The Poet

I watched this film after giving the good review on IMDb the benefit of the doubt. I have always been a fan of war films, but I have to say this particular one was a big disappointment.

The acting is mostly hammy (especially that of the poet himself; who is a rather overtly sentimental German soldier) and small blunders (Like the boom mike dangling at the top of many frames) don't help.

The story is very predictable and makes one wonder whether the whole WWII genre has been done to death.

If you've read previous reviews and synopses, you would have already gathered that the main hook in the film is the union between the German soldier and the Rabbi's daughter. It barely gets beyond that. Watch only if you've got nothing better to watch.

I am being generous by giving this movie a 4 out of 10. Please don't be fooled by the "9.3" score it currently has. You can thank the cast and crew of the movie which are obviously rating their movie on IMDb. The only reason this movie gets a 4, is because of that cute girl that came out in that horrible movie "My daughter's secret."

I am being generous by giving this movie a 4 out of 10. Please don't be fooled by the "9.3" score it currently has. You can thank the cast and crew of the movie which are obviously rating their movie on IMDb. The only reason this movie gets a 4, is because of that cute girl that came out in that horrible movie "My daughter's secret."

The Poet is a surprisingly poor to mediochre movie, trying hard to jerk a tear. 'Schmalz' describes it well - a sort of 'Fiddler on the Roof' without the charm. It looks thoroughly naive and unsubtle, as if written by a 19-year-old. It even shows the technological innovation of a 'left-handed' bolt action on a rifle. The lisping pseudo-German English dialogue was pointless and distracting to the point of trying hard to send up "Allo, allo!". Even Roy Scheider played a stereotyped rabbi - I expected "Oy, vey!!" at any moment. The battle scenes give paintballing a bad name, with more than a hint of Star Wars special effects. A waste of a good budget. The idea of lovers from opposite political poles might have worked in a re-setting of Romeo & Juliet on the eastern front, but Shakespeare this wasn't.

I liked the storytelling in this film. Also the plot twists were pleasant and although the end was predictable the storyline is captivating. The romance was realistic, but sometimes a little exaggerated. Rachel's story should be more developed.

The actors were good, the decor was brilliant and the cinematography also.

The flaws I've seen so far: Time errors? No way you can get a baby that fast. Factual error? In this movie some scenes go by too quickly without a good transition of time. Revealing mistakes: Crew equipment and mike visible in at least 3 shots.

In despite of some flaws a good cinema film.

Films about WWII are countless and specially those who focus on brutality and murder of Jews. (Anyway it will always be difficult to match "Schindler's List").But, including all of them, this is the worst that I've ever seen. The screenplay is just awful and the whole story is not to be believed. The main characters engage in a romance that is not love at first sight but at an eye blink. If this would not be enough, the romantic pair is played by amateur actors. I wonder what Roy Scheider is doing in a film like this, although he shows a good performance in a small part, almost a cameo. The same applies to Darryl Hannah. There is a cabaret scene in the film that is simply disrespectful to those Jews who endured persecution and mass assassination.