Good Story, But Film Doesn't Capture It

Rating: 6/10 (16 July 2002)

I have to confess that I had to watch this movie twice before it finally made a positive impression on me. The first time I could only take about half an hour before I turned it off. Somehow the whole thing seemed muddled and confused and it just didn't capture me. I watched it a second time mainly because it was available and I thought I must have missed something. It is better the second time around.
Basically, this is the story of the Battle of Stalingrad, told largely through the eyes of two opposing snipers - Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law) fighting for the Soviets, and Major Konig (Ed Harris) for the Germans. Vassili becomes a national hero as the sniper who almost single handedly is wiping out the Nazis, and Konig is sent to Stalingrad by the Germans for the sole purpose of taking him out. The two put on excellent performances in their respective roles. Of the supporting cast I must say that the only significant impression left (and it's interesting that it left a significant impression because it was a relatively minor role) was by Bob Hoskins, playing Nikita Kruschev as a political officer in the Soviet Army.
The battle scenes are graphic, so be warned if the sight of blood upsets you. The sets are brilliant, and make you feel as if you have indeed been taken into the middle of a war zone. The psychological aspect of the confrontation between Vassili and Konig is well portrayed by the respective actors. So there's a lot of things going for this movie. Having said that, it still left me a bit dry.
There just doesn't seem to be enough here to sustain a movie for two plus hours. How long can you really stay excited about watching two snipers play a cat and mouse game? How long can you really maintain your attention level watching two snipers simply watch for each other, waiting for each other to make the first move? The movie descends into that several times, and - I admit - my attention did wander. I'm quite certain this story was probably better as a novel, where the psychological aspect of the confrontation could be played up more significantly.
It's a decent enough war movie, though, and even with that fundamental weakness, it's still worthy of a 6/10.