Disappointing and Nonsensical

Rating: 6/10 (17 April 2009)

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas didn't live up to the 7.9 rating that the IMDb community gave it. The story was about the son (Bruno) of an important Natzi soldier and his friendship with an imprisoned concentration cap victim (Shmuel). The movie starts in Berlin where Bruno has the essence of a child's life. He gets torn away from that by his father's job as an SS soldier. For a while he lives in solitude with his family. Bruno, the curious and adventuresome 8-year-old, would become friends with Shmuel who would change his life forever (Trying not to give the plot away).
I said that this movie didn't live up to the 7.9 rating because of all the ridiculous nonsense that took place. Everyone that was in the movie had a British accent; they were supposed to be German. Many of the scenes were really stretched in order to make the movie 90 minutes (including credits). It seemed like there were minuets of people sitting at a kitchen table with awkward silence. Also, it seemed like there was no background on any character other than Bruno; both the father and mother didn't have names and there was no last name for the family. Next, everyone in the family is oblivious to Bruno's friendship. The mother doesn't question why he walks backwards with hands behind his back, the guards don't question why Shmuel consistently doesn't work, and the father doesn't question why Bruno wants to stay in an environment of solitude. It just doesn't make sense.
Now, the movie wasn't all bad, just too much nonsense for me personally. -Dan (6.0 Stars)