Very weak main character

Rating: 5/10 (19 February 2014)

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is the story of Bruno, an 8 year old German boy whose father is the commandant of a concentration camp. I won't go into too much detail about the plot because the its a pretty decent plot. My main gripe with this film is the weakness of the main character, Bruno.
He starts of like an young, privileged boy would in a movie; annoying, prissy, and completely oblivious to what's going on around him. He reminded me of Jamie from Empire of the sun, another young boy whose life is being affected by WWII. Only with Jamie, you learn to like and respect him as he changes throughout film. He's a very dynamic character. Bruno, on the other hand is a very static character. His personality and attitude remain the same throughout the film, even when he sees what is happening to the Jews.
Every scene that Bruno is in you are just waiting for him to stop talking because where he very boring, the rest of the family is pretty interesting. In fact, I felt the relationship between the mother and father was the most captivating, even if it is only a sub plot. And the sister is cool too in the limited screen time she gets.
And finally the actual boy in the striped pajamas. His name is Shmaul and he develops a relationship with Bruno and is the only friend Bruno has. Bruno brings brings him food and the play chess together. I only wish that the story had been about Shmaul. He has real problems and understands the gravity of his situation. Shmaul and Bruno's mother are the characters you feel you grow with. They are characters you care about but Bruno is the one on screen the whole time.
If you're looking for a WWII story told through a child's eyes, watch Empire of the Sun. Christian Bale and John Malkovich are great in it.
Anyway, if you don't want the movie to be spoiled then stop reading now. Spoiler Alert. First, how is he able to tunnel under fence; if an eight year old boy can do it with a shovel than I than a few grown men can do it with their hands. And that must be the least secure camp the Germans had if people are able to sneak IN to it. Lastly, and this may sound mean but I didn't really feel bad for Bruno in the end, I felt bad for all the Jews, I felt bad for Bruno's family, but not for Bruno. I only hope that at some point before he died that Bruno understood the true nature of the camps and what his father had been doing.