Keeping honor alive?

Rating: Null/10 (12 February 2002)

MINOR SPOILERS... BEWARE!
It's not often we get to watch a movie where a POW confine consists of such varied mind camps. Irrational mindsets perhaps, but credible! It's not a movie about romantic or gung-ho patriotism, nor is it about national victory. It's not even about the bonds of combat soldiers, or the foolish waste of valuable lives! Hart's War, clearly a `pun' play on the movie title, probes into the segregated cast, cultural and racial prejudices of Stalag 7A characters, as witnessed by a young lieutenant and former law student, seized and thrown into a Nazi POW camp. It examines a person's decision to accommodate one man's needs over a group's. And it brings to light the importance and proper definition of `honor.'
A well thought script, with powerful dialogue, that has kept me totally focused on the screen. The cinematic settings of dreary blue nuances and effective array of pyrotechnics, throughout the film, are coherent to the moods of conspiracy and chilling conflicts. Even the bouts of occasional humor seem necessary to provide momentary relief to the shady, intense and gripping circumstances. Definitely a powerful drama that is visually attentive to heroism and sacrifice, honor and betrayal!

This movie is a brilliant capture of a man's conscience and struggle to choose between his morality, his duty to his country, and his life. And it's a sophisticated and compelling tale that doesn't employ judgmentally empathetic imagination. Colin Farrell is superb in his role as the youthful Lt. Tom Hart. Will he become Hollywood's hottest property after this film? I should think so! In fact, the overall ensemble of actors is a fabulous choice for the electrifying roles, each given character with his personal motivation and individual perspective to make the plot work very well. A murder mystery with a racial twist that leads to a court trial under the rules of the Geneva Convention, only to expose the ethics, purposes and hidden agendas of all the characters in a multi-layered plot! Intriguing, intelligent and definitely mesmerizing! But will the Germans have their last laugh, thinking that their American POWs are backstabbing each other? This film is certainly a must-see to get to the answer.