‘Reunion’ (PG-13)

American Jew Henry Strauss (Jason Robards) returns to Stuttgart after a 55-year absence. He wants to explore his haunting past. Unfortunately, the people helping him retrace those steps are screenwriter Harold Pinter and director Jerry Schatzberg. Their hands are far heavier than their hearts.

Robards is particularly interested in a boyhood friendship ruptured by the political times, but the past is hard to uncover. He has few contacts, and his old school was bombed during the war.

The story, as Robards remembers it, comes on screen. A student at the private Karl-Alexander Gymnasium, young Strauss (played by Christien Anholt) befriends new student Samuel West. From a wealthy family, West is polite but evasive. He sidesteps almost every overture. Anholt keeps up the friendly pressure, however, and the two become unconditional friends.

But rumblings of the Holocaust are apparent from the beginning.

"Sigmund Freud's a Jew," a student retorts with disdain, in the middle of class.

Hitler's power is increasing. Goons attack Jews in public places. Anholt begins to feel more blatant antisemitism at school. Even West, who initially protects Anholt from tauntings, starts slipping away. When Hitler finally takes over, Anholt and his family are forced to take desperate measures.

By TV-viewing standards, "Reunion" is perfectly acceptable. But on the bigger screen, weaknesses become apparent. Anholt bears no resemblance to Robards. It takes a while to realize who he's supposed to be. Schatzberg jumps between past and present with unenlightening artsiness. The bigoted cab driver who drives Robards around, and a dramatic portrayal of Nazi Judge Freisler on the TV, seem a little too coincidental to Robards's Stuttgart visit.

What became of West is saved for the end. It's a suitably macabre punchline, but it feels too neatly contrived to achieve the explosive conclusion it's clearly meant to.