Not meant to be a film. Should have been a mini-series

Rating: 4/10 (29 December 2014)

When I finished this book a few years ago I thought to myself, "What a great HBO miniseries this book would make". When I heard they were making a film, I thought "No way. You can not tell this story in 2 or even 3 hours - not without cutting out too many important pieces."
If you have not read the book, you will like this film. It is inspiring, the cinematography is wonderful, the wardrobes are great, and the acting is very good. I think Jolie painted as good a picture as possible given the limited canvas of a two hour movie.
Personally, I found myself watching the film and anticipating with excitement multiple key events from the book that ended up being left out of the film entirely. I'm talking important things. Whole chapters of the man's life. Things that were important to HIM. Case in point, everything that happens to the man AFTER the war is summed up in two paragraphs that run just before the closing credits!
So if you read the book - it's a 4. if you have not read the book, it may be a 7 or 8.