Strong on story; a little light on action

Rating: Null/10 (13 August 2005)

Billed as "inspired by true events" in the opening credits and "the most successful rescue mission in US military history" in the end credits, this movie is shot in such a traditional style that it could have been taken as having been made in the 60s. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with this.
Depicting events taking place in 5 days, this movie has a clear focus of telling the story of the rescue of 500 prisoners of war from slaughter in the Philippines just prior to Japan's surrender. Two parallel story lines, about the prisons and the rescue troop, provide good alternating angles in this two-hour plus movie. The prison camp story, augmented by a simple subplot of the underground resistance movement of the Filipinos, is rich in human stories of endurance, illness, comradeship, courage, as well as cruelty and atrocity. The story of the rescue troop, understandably, takes a secondary role, dwelling mainly on tactical development. Still, we see a mild personality conflict between commander and subordinate, which ends in mutual respect.
It isn't until the two story lines finally converge (the rescue mission reaching the POW camp) that we finally see some action. Those looking for continuous action throughout the movie may be disappointed but the action sequence, when we finally get to it, is very capably shot and well paced with clarity that the audience can easily follow (but don't expect gut-spilling reality in the vein of "Saving Private Ryan"). More importantly, the stories preceding this exciting finale are well watchable (albeit a tad too long) and well cast.
First, on the prison camp front, that Joseph Fiennes is a good actor should not require particular vouching but the closest he ever came to a war movie is probably Enemies at the Gate (which is not really a typical war movie), until this one. His persona here is that of the "enduring hero", a POW plagued with malaria and yet holding up as an inspiration to his fellow prisoners. Playing his best friend is Marton Csokas who played the bad guy in "Kingdom of heaven". Connie Nielsen (who gave a good performance in "Basic", left an impression in "The hunted" and had a role in the overrated "Gladiator") played a nurse, who is involved also with the Filipino underground resistance, in a Manila hospital under Japanese occupation.
On the rescuer front, James Franco (superb in "Sonny" but unquestionably much better known as Spider Man's nemesis) probably leaves the most favourable impression in this moving, playing a young gallant captain. Benjamin Bratt, who can be traced back to the first "Miss Congeniality" playing opposite Sandra Bullock, is the commander of the rescue troop.