Mission évasion

This film is absorbing because you are kept guessing until the very end. Hart, the lead character, isn't exactly an angel; and the Nazi Kommandant conjures up a measure of sympathy, with other motives of characters such as Col. MacNamara (Willis) truly unclear until the end.

Thus, it's enough to keep you watching, although I wish I'd read the book first. Also, it's not an "action" film in the Schwarzenegger sense, but it is fast-paced and holds your attention, as the plot keeps twisting and turning.

Contrary to what others thought, I found HART'S WAR to be reasonably historically accurate. It's frequently pointed out that by late 1944 / early 1945, the Germans were reeling, desperate and disorganized, while HART'S WAR portrays them firmly in control. This is a fair criticism, but I would respond as follows:

1. HART'S WAR coincides with the Ardennes offensive (Battle of the Bulge), which was the last major German offensive of the war and which came perilously close to succeeding. Puffed up from that near-victory, not knowing (as we know today) that this was the last gasp of a dying reich and not a turning point towards victory, and now holding hundreds if not thousands of Allied POW's to boot, it's no surprise that the Germans are still confident of victory.

2. Also, HART'S WAR takes place in a short period of time (I would guess 2-3 weeks between Hart's capture and the end of the trial, which itself is only a week). The story does not drag into the spring of '45, at which point the Germans knew they were losing.

3. The Nazi Kommandant epitomizes this German confidence, yet because he was educated in the US, he has at least a measure of sympathy for his American prisoners and treats them with an equal measure of military courtesy, with a few exceptions. Other Kommandants during this time may not have been as "humane," but, because of his background, Visser's lack of brutality (again, with exceptions) is understandable.

Bruce Willis is clearly a supporting actor in this film, but I felt he had a strong and important role and was, arguably, the CENTRAL character while Colin Farrell is the LEADING character. However, Willis gets top billing for one simple reason -- TO SELL TICKETS. It worked for me, at least.

What a squandered opportunity.

Hart's War is yet another example of why movies rarely if ever live up to the book upon wich they are based. The novel of the same name by John Katzenbach is so clearly suited for the big screen it is almost frightening, and yet one has to wonder whether screenwriters Billy Ray and Terry George actually read the entire book or merely relied on cliff notes. The writers have taken an immensely engrossing tale of life in a German POW camp during WW2 and commercialized it with needless explosions and manipulative and improbable plot twists. The movie's thorough lack of character development hinders the best efforts of the actors (Bruce Willis, Collin Farrell, and Terrance Howard all do comendable work with the restrictive material they are given) to make the audience identify with them - resulting in an emotional climax that is supposed to evoke sympathy and respect but instead falls flat on its face. It is still beyond me why the makers of this film felt compelled to change the ending from the book - perhaps they feared it was too compelling and thought-provoking for their intended audience and felt obligated to dumb it down into as many cliche ridden speeches and improbable acts of courage and honor as possible. Whatever their reasons, the resulting lack of subtlety in this film is nothing less than insulting.

If I am being more harsh than other reviewers it is because I have read the book and know just what could have been accomplished. Do yourself a favor and read the book - it is far superior to this film or any other recent Hollywood offering.

If you're looking for action in your war film skip this one. But if you don't mind an interesting drama about prejudice among Americans in a German POW camp, which although slow at times, leads to an interesting pay-off with a twist that (kinda) makes the whole thing worth it, then check it out. I especially enjoyed the subdued though "grizzled" looking Bruce Willis as Colonel McNamara and Marcel Iures as the camps' German commander.

This takes place in a POW camp during WWII, and follows the events that transpire after a few black enlisted men are captured and put among the white prisoners. This has a well-written script, lines are great and well-delivered, the plot is interesting, engaging and develops quite nicely throughout. The editing and cinematography have some inspired moments, and are always marvelous. This is rather exciting and entertaining.

I haven't read the novel, nor did I realize that this was based upon one until I watched it. This is the third of Hoblit's films I've seen, the other two being Frequency and Primal Fear, both of which I find to be excellent. Thus, in comparison, this is a little less impressive. I wouldn't call it poor, however. It certainly has a point to it, something to say, and it communicates it fairly well. The message is good, too.

The performances are impeccable, Willis does as well as we expect, Farrell makes reasonable use of his chance at doing a role that can prove he can do more than project his "bad boy" persona onto the screen, and Howard shines. This meeting and conflict between the experienced master and the up-and-coming student is further infused with the clever juxtaposition of that relationship being not only of their characters – but of the actors, as well.

The DVD comes with two informational, compelling and amusing commentaries: one by Gregory Hoblit, writer Billy Ray and Bruce Willis, and one by producer David Foster, 10 minutes of good deleted scenes with or without director commentary and several photo galleries. There is relatively infrequent strong violence and language. I recommend this to any fan of dramas, and who enjoy movies that deal with history. 7/10

For what it's worth, I appreciate the film medium interpretation of a book's story, and not try to compare or expect how detail or more poignant the book's descriptions were. Viewing a film, audio and visually taking in the collaborative efforts of a film production is not the same as someone reading a novel. Reading also depends on the environment that you're in: while traveling with people around you, or being quietly by yourself. Reading is very much one person's own interpretation - as one reads, one can conjure up the possible sight and sound in one's mind and imagination. While in a cinema viewing a movie, we are exercising our senses - visual and audio - of what's presented on the screen. The experiences are uniquely different.

In HART"S WAR, Colin Farrell who portrayed Lt. Hart is very much front and centered, while Bruce Willis' role of Col. McNamara, his (humane) attributes are more subtle and from within - his aching insides from the years of war and isolation. There is the struggle/conflict of the war veteran vs. the clean cut affluent background of young Hart. We see Willis' McNamara's treatment with Farrell's Hart more evidently, but for McNamara himself, say the quiet scene where he visited the flyer in isolation waiting for trial - more imminent of death, we simply see him giving Lt. Scott a book; when Scott opens it, it's the New Testament. It is later while Hart's talking with Scott outside the trial room just before the closing arguments, that we learned the book was Scott's own, with a picture of him and wife and child kept within the Bible's pages. So off camera, we may gathered that McNamara must have silently gone through Scott's belongings and took that New Testament to Scott, with the understanding that Scott may find solace in seeing the family picture again and as most soldiers would, felt duty above all else.or would he? And Hart, representing Scott as his defending lawyer, would he let him? Such are the subtle layers to the storyline.

Director Gregory Hoblit's previous films were no simple Hollywood plots. They all require some mind stimulating thinking: 1996's "Primal Fear," the crime and lawyers film with Richard Gere, Laura Linney, and the fascinating debut 'hell' of a performance from Edward Norton; 1998's "Fallen", one devil of an intriguing storyline where Denzel Washington, along with Embeth Davidtz, tackling the many faces (Elias Koteas included) of the elusive Lucifer (music was by Tan Dun of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"; 2000's "Frequency" was the mind-twisting time-bending drama of son and father team, Jim Caviezel and Dennis Quaid. Here in HART'S WAR again, there are no simple answers to the questions raised: moral dilemma, military honors, ravage and trying times of war and being POWs - no escape of endurance tests. It's a well produced film with fine cinematography of stark snowy scenes from Alar Kivilo (who also did "Frequency" with director Hoblit); score to this war film was complemented (unexpectedly) by British composer Rachel Portman; and performances by a talented cast. I did see "Stalag 17" and "The Great Escape" again, but my sense is "Hart's War" stands on its own, it's not really a humor filled "17" not an action packed "Escape" movie, it's more of a humane story at its core, offering an aspect of life's outlook, military or not.