Confessions from a Jude Law fan...

Rating: Null/10 (12 January 2002)

First of all, I have a confession to make: I don´t watch war movies. I am just your average movie-loving 18 year-old female who only rented this film because Jude Law was in it. I did not watch Saving Private Ryan mainly because I don´t like war movies, and it looked overly violent for my taste. I have no doubts that it´s one of the best war movies ever made and that this one doesn´t even come close, blah, blah, blah (as the 200 or so comments before me so clearly state), so if you choose not to take this humble review into account because I am just a young girl who was probably too busy drooling all over the main actor to pay attention to the plot, then it´s your choice. But personally, I like to think that both my distaste for war movies and my love for Jude Law are a good thing when it comes to this movie, as it helped me watch it without being constantly comparing it to other similar films (and in the case of Jude Law, well, it helped me watch it in the first place, and for that I am grateful!).
The thing I loved the most was the "feel" of the movie. Some say the pacing was slow; I say it wasn´t. Come on, spending hours and hours paying cat and mouse with your enemy can´t be like a day at the circus, and I like the fact that it was more than just pointless action - which is what Hollywood loves doing. - The cinematography was GREAT, as was the direction... I am not familiar with the director of this movie, but something tells me I should be. It´s actually refreshing after so many dreadful Hollywood movies to find a director who actually understands that there is more to the task that just following the actors around. The images are incredibly powerful - and not just because of the cinematography and the work of the director, but also because of the acting.
I knew Law, Fiennes and Harris could act. And yes, I even knew Weisz could act as well (her small role in Sunshine opossite the older Fiennes, Ralph, was certainly memorable). So I can´t claim that the actors were a surprise. I had no problems at all with the lack of accents... as another reviewer said, if they wanted realism, they wouldn´t have Russian characters speaking in English, accented or not. My only problem with the casting was that Jude Law was simply too handsome for the role. I doubt men could look that good in the middle of a war! (same must be said for Weisz sadly... Yes, she was hardly glamorous in this film, but still I refuse to believe that female soldiers looked like that)
Law and Harris´ game of cat and mouse dominates the film... the suspense is very well done, and it´s indeed amazing how some of the movie´s most memorable scenes are achieved without a single line of dialogue. Harris´ role is not that of your typical Nazi... it´s quite refreshing to see that he is actually human, and not just a two dimensional villain (see standard Hollywood filmmaking).
Fiennes´role as Vassili´s friend, the intellectual Danilov - who certainly knew how to play dirty for an idealist if you ask me - was not as important as Law´s, but it was certainly equally (or even more) interesting. Sadly,
the main weakness of the script lies in that his motivations are never quite clear. If Danilov works, it´s because of Joseph Fiennes - who already showed audiences he was an excelent actor in his memorable Lord Robert from Elizabeth and the title character from Shakespeare in Love -. Fiennes role goes from best friend to traitor to hero... and sadly the transition does not run smoothly. The ending just screams "plot hole!" and it´s not quite satisfing, although Law and Fiennes acting is flawless in their last scene together.
So all in all? No, it´s not perfect, and no, it´s not the best movie ever, but does that mean it´s bad? Hell, no! On the contrary, it´s a very good movie, beautifully filmed, very well acted and a breath of fresh air if you ask me. And if anybody says "oh, Pearl Harbor was better" I´ll have to shot myself (or shot them, I have yet to decide it).
Oh yes, and if you were wondering: yes, I still think Jude Law is hot (although Joseph Fiennes is not half bad himself!)