Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Hart's War (2002)

Director: Gregory Hoblit

Writers: John Katzenbach, Billy Ray, Terry George

Composer: Rachel Portman

Starring: Bruce Willis, Colin Farrell, Terrence Howard, Cole Hauser, Marcel Iures, Linus Roache, Vicellous Reon Shannon, Maury Sterling, Sam Jaeger, Scott Michael Campbell, Joe Spano

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Heroes Are Measured By What They Do.

Plot: A law student becomes a lieutenant during World War II, is captured and asked to defend a black prisoner of war falsely accused of murder.



My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? No.

It's a good flick but the shit that bothered me when I saw it in the theater still bothers me.  It feels like a real stretch that so many men would be allowed to roam the camp unsupervised, especially at night, but I'll chalk it up to the Commandant making a special allowance considering his fondness of Lt. Hart (Farrell).  The second is the casting of Willis.  He tones it down more than usual but he's still being Willis.  It's not his fault 'cause that's what you get when you hire Willis.  While they're not subtle about the morality tales I did enjoy it more the second time around with how the trial was handled and the ending was somewhat satisfying if not a bit too melodramatic.  Good score by Portman.  I'm glad I gave it another look after all these years but it's clear I don't need to revisit it. The MGM DVD comes with two commentaries (one with Willis, director Hoblit and writer Billy Ray and the other with producer David Foster), deleted scenes with optional commentary from the director, a photo gallery that gives you images from the film, the set, behind the scenes and posters, the theatrical trailer, a trailer for WINDTALKERS and one for STARGATE SG-1/JEREMIAH.

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