Probably would have been better as a TV show.

Rating: 8/10 (30 January 2014)

'THE BOOK THIEF': Four Stars (Out of Five)
World War II drama film about a young girl living with foster parents (during the war in Germany) who also develops relationships with a Jewish refugee (hiding in their home) and a boy (her age) from the neighborhood. It was directed by Brian Percival and written by Michael Petroni. It's based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Markus Zusak. The film stars Sophie Nélisse, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, Ben Schnetzer, Nico Liersch and Roger Allam (voicing the narrator of the film, Death). I think the movie looks great (and is well made) but it's not quite involving enough to be really interesting or entertaining.
Nélisse plays Liesel Meminger, a young girl who is 12 when the movie starts (in 1938 Germany) and 14 by the time it's over. Death (Allam) narrates Liesel's story and tells how her mother (Heike Makatsch) is forced to leave her with foster parents (because her mom is a communist and a target of the Nazis) shortly after her brother (Julian Lehmann) dies. Her foster parents are Hans (Rush) and Rosa Hubermann (Watson). Liesel takes a liking to Hans much more than her new mother because he's a lot kinder. She also takes a liking to a young neighborhood boy, Rudy (Liersch), who thinks he's in love with her (and is constantly asking her for a kiss). When Hans learns that Liesel can't read (after she's picked on for it at school) he begins to teach her. Liesel becomes obsessed with books and later develops a relationship with a Jewish refugee, Max Vandenburg (Schnetzer), who comes to hide in the Hubermann's home.
Brian Percival has directed multiple episodes (6) of the popular TV show 'DOWNTOWN ABBEY', which is a historical drama series set right before World War I. That's what this movie feels like to me (a TV show). It's not epic enough to be a great dramatic war film and probably would be much better as a longer developed TV show. The acting is all good (the young actress in the lead is especially impressive) but the characters' drama isn't overly interesting or that memorable. One thing about the film that is truly cinematic is the score by John Williams (one of the greatest music composers of all time) and this is the first movie he's done in 8 years that's not directed by Steven Spielberg. It is a World War II film though, which a lot of Spielberg movies are, so it feels like a John Williams type movie. The film is probably more interesting if you're really fascinated by World War II but most others will be likely be bored.
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