that's because Ebert thinks Plummer's character played an "important wartime role". I don't know where he got that idea from. the guy just made some money with the nazis. I'll quote a guy from the IMDB.com boards: "...he could be 30 in 1945 then 87 in 2002 but what's the big deal in the first place??? I'll show Ebert the 110 years old housekeeper from my friend's farm who swims and rides horses."

all the so called "plot holes" that people seem to figure out have at least a reasonable answer and most of them are clearly questions from someone who did not understand the movie.