Highly impressed

Rating: 9/10 (7 April 2001)

We're coming off a year in which a sandshoe-swordfighting epic is our best picture and the Academy has made some improvements with its selections. Members of the Academy, pay attention. This film stands out as one of the best movies I've seen in a good couple of years, and I won't be surprised if it turns out to be better than Pearl Harbor.
What makes this film so riveting is not its dialogue -- rather its atmosphere and the non-verbal emotional roles that the characters play. When is the Academy going to grow some guts and give Ed Harris the recognition and Oscar he deserves? This movie is yet more proof why he stands among the elite (along with Morgan Freeman, I consider him the best actor working in America) because he can take a role with very little speaking and elicit an extremely strong reaction from the audience. This guy will make you hate his character when all is said and done. Jude Law is perfectly cast as our resident hero and counterpart to Harris, and Joseph Fiennes continues to make leaps and bounds in his performances. (I wasn't expecting much out of Fiennes, but his performance as a Soviet propagandist was so breathtaking real it could be considered the show-stealer.) I enjoyed the subtlety of both the romantic sub-plot and Rachel Weisz's performance, and the atmosphere created by the directors leaves your blood running cold.
The movie is partially fictionalized, but yet again, truth is not only stranger, but more compelling, than fiction.
"Enemy At The Gates" is more than worth your $9.50. It's certainly not for the light of the stomach -- the sniper violence can be visually shocking and nauseating at times -- but hey, war is war. If you're the type of moviegoer who appreciates subtle action and stories told with emotions, not words, then this one is definitely for you. 9/10