Interesting concept, but fails on most parts

Rating: 5/10 (8 February 2010)

I was somewhat intrigued to see this, as I really enjoyed Little Voice - the only other movie I've seen from the director. I was also interested in the different view of a very well covered subject and I'm yet to see a bad performance by David Thewlis.
Quite quickly I noticed it's not going to be as sincere as I figured it would. You can easily spot so many underlinings that I knew it's not gonna be too subtle. Kids playing war, bleak new house, rain when appropriate (you even see the sun is actually shining) .. the list goes on.
Some have praised the child actors, but I wasn't convinced. I can't quite pinpoint what it was, but I didn't find them very believable. I'm quite sure the script played it's part here.
David Thewlis makes an OK performance with what is given to him, but watching (the now very popular) Vera Farmiga as his wife is a painful experience. Her performance was way over the top at most times.
This movie felt like it was just going for the Oscar's by being politically correct in every sense, but there is nothing that would really grab and twist your mind to think of the holocaust any differently than we are used to. Maybe we are not supposed to either, but I just felt the movie didn't serve much purpose, other than dig for a cheapish emotional response from the viewer. It's emotional, just for the sake of being emotional.. blah.