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As a Criitc:
A
As a Moviegoer: C+
I loved this movie |
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By
Eugene Hattingh
As A Critic: I loved this
movie. Okay, so my favorite star is Bruce
Willis, but I realize that he's had his
share of duds (Last Man Standing, The
Story of Us). This movie is not one of
them. Also, the best thing about the movie
is the storyline and the characters.
Hart's War sets itself apart from most
movies since the conflict of the story (a
murder) doesn't happen until halfway
through the movie. Usually the conflict
occurs about 15 to 25 minutes in. The
first act of a movie usually involves
development of characters. Hart's War has
about an hour to develop the characters
and then continues to do so the rest of
the movie. And that's what I liked about
it. |
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The film's driving force is not war
violence, like most war movies are,
but instead, a beautifully executed
study in the "real" people behind the
stereotypes that we have come to
know. The Nazis are people too. I
know, most of us think of them as
these larger than life monsters. In
Hart's War we get to know the Germans
as well, not just the American
soldiers. We learn that they too have
suffered heartache. The German officer
in charge of the POW camp discusses
losing his son to the war in one
scene. You know he feels grief over i,
but he quickly dismisses it, by
discussing how he himself has killed
men who also had fathers.
Hart's War was done superbly in every
aspect; the acting was great and the
writing was top notch. There are some
plot twists but none that seemed too
"out there." The twists work
affectively enough, since we learn
just about everything going on in the
POW camp from the eyes of LT. Hart. As
the story moves along he learns that
things aren't always what they seem,
and that there is a lot more going on
behind closed doors than he imagined.
The ending is a memorable one and that
is all I'll say about that.
As a critic, I give this movie
an A.
Average Moviegoer: I
doubt that most people would like this
movie. But I do encourage you to go
see it, since it is a great story with
excellent character development. The
problem that the majority of people
will have with Hart's War is that the
action is scarce; this is no Saving
Private Ryan or Black Hawk Down, as
far as war action is concerned. You're
not going to see Bruce Willis pull out
a machine gun and mow down the enemy
like they are deer caught in
headlights. This movie is about POW's
that are waiting for the war to end,
but still have a few schemes up their
sleeves to disrupt the Nazi aggressors
from the inside.
If good acting and a well written
story with great dialogue and some
plot twists is your cup of tea, then
go see this movie. But please don't
expect a movie filled with non-stop
action. When I went to see the movie
in the middle of the afternoon, the
theater was about 25% full and the
overall reaction to the movie seemed
to be approval. It's one of those
movies that you might not want to see,
but when you do you will get pulled
into the story and the characters.
Some may dismiss this as a dull movie,
but give it a chance.
Average Moviegoer: C+
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