This movie popped up via recommendations in my NetFlix queue. It had both Bruce Willis and Colin Farrell in it, so I figured what the heck and added it in.
I honestly never heard of this movie before and based on ratings of other sites, can understand why. But let me give you my perspective on it and then you can determine if you want to watch it and then you can form your own opinions.
Hart's War takes place in Germany during the second World War. The movie is about a young lieutenant who gets captured and taken to a German POW camp. There he meets a colonel and other assorted characters and the movie begins. There were a lot of twists and turns in this movie. It really grabbed my attention right away and kept hold of it.
The overall plot to Hart's War is a black lieutenant being falsely accused of murder and the events that take place during and after his trial.
If you enjoyed A Few Good Men, you'll surely want to see Hart's War. Different time, different plot but the genre is definitely the same.
Bruce Willis plays Colonel William A. McNamara who has already been captured by the Germans and held in one of their POW camps. I've always thought Bruce Willis plays military roles well and again did well in Hart's War. His rough appearance as well as stern emotion fit perfectly into the role he was cast in.
Col. McNamara has a report with the German Colonel and is given the chance to oversee the rest of the captured soldiers. Toward the end of the movie the trust between the two colonels becomes strained and ultimately leads to an unexpected ending.
Colin Farrell plays Lt. Thomas W. Hart. Lt. Hart is a young lieutenant who hasn't seen any action in WWII. Due to his family's status back in the states he is given a cushy assignment at headquarters. During what seemed to be a routine transport, Lt. Hart is ambushed and captured. Eventually he is taken to the same POW camp as Col. McNamara is in.
Before long the two meet up and story begins to take shape. Lt. Hart is placed in the same barracks as the unlisted men. Along comes Lt. Scott who is a black air force pilot who has also been captured. Tensions become very high in the barracks that Lt. Scott and Lt. Hart are bunked in.
Eventually Lt. Hart has to represent Lt. Scott in a make shift court martial.
You're starting to see Colin Farrell in more and more movies recently. I thought he did a pretty good job in Hart's War. He really fit that young naive lieutenant character well. He was able to convey a lot of emotion which helped draw you into the believability of his character.
There wasn't a lot of opportunity to use your surround sound for this movie. There were 1-3 action scenes, but they were pretty short in nature and really didn't have any impact on the overall plot of the movie.
Along the same lines, there wasn't much use for any camera tricks in this movie. It was your standard filming format. Although it was standard, Hart's War didn't require any type of special effects or camera tricks to help out the movie.
Obviously Hart's War is no longer in a movie theater. I would have recommended the movie to be seen in a theater by those that are into law and order type movies. Definitely a movie to rent and watch. After you see it once, that would probably be the last time you would want to see it, as there would be no point to see it a second time.
A good rental nonetheless.
"Hart's War" opens February 15, 2002 and is rated R. Drama. Directed by Gregory Hoblit. Written by John Katzenbach . Starring Bruce Willis, Terrence Howard, Colin Farrell.
