Not on the stage

Rating: Null/10 (16 November 1998)

Steven Spielberg once said: "If it's not on the page, it's not on the stage." He seems to be out to prove this in his last few films. And this from the man who made more than one of the best films of all time. Here it is: The first twenty minutes, though the most gripping, are completely redundant. It does nothing for the story, which has a good premise, but fails to deliver. Are we suppose to care for any of these people, that we know nothing about? And the main character (Tom Hanks) would like it to stay that way. Because we don't know the characters, we feel less the terror of the war. We see it (very realistically and well done), but we don't FEEL it. And then they have to remind us that everything is strange, Tom Hanks saying that he feels it's a surreal situation. Don't tell us, show us! Then there is Spielberg's sentimentality pushed to the limit and over. "Am I a good man? Tell me I've been a good man." Enough is enough.