Hart's War Cast : Colin Farrell (Lt.
Tommy Hart),
Bruce Willis (Col. William McNamara), Terrence Howard
(Lt. Lincoln Scott), Marcel Lures, Vicellous Shannon (Lamar
Archer), Jonathan Brandis (Waverly), Scott Michael Campbell,
Rory Cochrane, Cole Hauser, Michael Landes, Rick Ravenello,
Sebastian Tillinger, Michael Weston, Sam Worthington
Director : Gregory Hoblit
Written By : Terry George, Billy Ray, Jeb Stuart
Producers : David Foster, David Ladd, Arnold Rifkin,
Gregory Hoblit
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Trailer
: Quicktime
The terrible conflict that was World War II has forever been
visualized in film and print in ways to numerous to mention.
In recent years, Hollywood has returned to the World War II
setting and given us some great productions such as Band
of Brothers, and Saving Private Ryan. Alas,
for every Ryan there are a number of misfires
such as Pearl Harbor and Captain Correlis
Mandolin that were large on spectacle and hype but short
on character and plot.
Following the tragic events of September 11th, war related
films such as Behind Enemy Lines, and BlackHawk
Down, have been embraced by audiences that sent the films
box office to lofty heights. The new Bruce Willis vehicle
Harts War is attempting to reach the same
audience that drew Enemy and Blackhawk
by relying on human drama rather than battlefield exploits
to propel the story.
Harts War tells the story of LT. Tommy Hart
(Colin Farrell), an officer at the rear headquarters in Europe
who is safely behind the lines thanks to his Senator father.
Hart was in his second year of law school at Yale when he
entered the war, and is content at serving his country in
HQ. While driving to a field office, Hart is taken prisoner
and finds himself in a Stalag run by the brutal Major Wilhelm
Visser (Marcel Iures), and the ranking prisoner Colonel William
McNamara (Bruce Willis), who is a fourth generation West Point
graduate. Hart is ordered to live apart from the officers
in enlisted mens barracks ostensibly due to a lack of
space. Hart later learns that McNamara does not trust him
as his debriefing only lasted three days by the Nazis and
he never moved past an entry level interrogator. Undaunted,
Hart goes about adjusting to life in the camp, and even gets
the attention of the camps trade merchant Bedford, (Cole Hauser),
who has a knack for finding items prisoners need for a price
be it winter boots and socks or parts for an illegal radio.
Life in the camp is soon disrupted by the arrival of two black
airmen who have been shot down. Mcnamara instructs Hart to
watch out for the men, and this causes him to run afoul of
the men he lives with, as they are very opposed to living
with black officers. When one of the black pilots is framed
and executed, tensions run high in the camp. The discovery
of a dead white prisoner further complicates matters when
the remaining black pilot is forced to stand trial for the
crime and Hart is assigned to protect him.
It is at this point that the movie becomes uneven as its pacing
and focus become very uneven. It seems as if director Gregory
Hoblit was unsure if he wanted a prisoner escape film, a racial
drama in the vein of A Soldiers Story, or a courtroom
drama such as A Few Good Men. The screenplay by
Billy Ray and Terry George does service to the book by John
Katzenbach, but fails to have the emotional impact that the
book had. Willis is good in a subdued role, as the audience
is never sure of McNamaras intentions until the very
end. Farell plays Hart as a wide-eyed soldier who is removed
from his place of comfort and has to develop the traits of
leadership, loyalty, and honor as he learns that life in the
camp and on the lines is not the starched uniforms and lifestyle
to which he had become accustomed. Marcel Iures is effective
in his portrayal as he is a man of diversity. Capable of killing
without hesitation one minute and listening to jazz while
reading Mark Twain the next, he is a loyal soldier who is
determined to do his duty to the end.
The film is a hard one to get a grasp on, as it was a well-crafted
film with some great cinema photography. The pacing of the
film is slow as the film builds to its climax in an methodical
manner that is plausible despite some Hollywood style trickery
such as characters dragging events out in order for future
events to happen even though their delays have no valid reasons
and would not likely happen in reality. That being said, the
film did entertain at times, but it left me with an empty
feeling, as I did not gain hope, inspiration, or satisfaction
from the characters and their stories, only acceptance of
their fates much like the huddled masses imprisoned in the
stalag.
3
out of 5
Gareth Von Kallenbach
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