The terrible conflict that was World War II has forever been visualized in film and print in ways to numerous to mention. In recent years, Hollywood has returned to the World War II setting and given us some great productions such as “Band of Brothers”, and “Saving Private Ryan”. Alas, for every “Ryan” there are a number of misfires such as “Pearl Harbor” and “Captain Correlis Mandolin” that were large on spectacle and hype but short on character and plot.

Following the tragic events of September 11th, war related films such as “Behind Enemy Lines”, and “BlackHawk Down, have been embraced by audiences that sent the films box office to lofty heights. The new Bruce Willis vehicle “Hart’s War” is attempting to reach the same audience that drew “Enemy” and “Blackhawk” by relying on human drama rather than battlefield exploits to propel the story.

“Hart’s War” tells the story of LT. Tommy Hart (Colin Farrell), an officer at the rear headquarters in Europe who is safely behind the lines thanks to his Senator father. Hart was in his second year of law school at Yale when he entered the war, and is content at serving his country in HQ. While driving to a field office, Hart is taken prisoner and finds himself in a Stalag run by the brutal Major Wilhelm Visser (Marcel Iures), and the ranking prisoner Colonel William McNamara (Bruce Willis), who is a fourth generation West Point graduate. Hart is ordered to live apart from the officers in enlisted men’s barracks ostensibly due to a lack of space. Hart later learns that McNamara does not trust him as his debriefing only lasted three days by the Nazis and he never moved past an entry level interrogator. Undaunted, Hart goes about adjusting to life in the camp, and even gets the attention of the camps trade merchant Bedford, (Cole Hauser), who has a knack for finding items prisoners need for a price be it winter boots and socks or parts for an illegal radio. Life in the camp is soon disrupted by the arrival of two black airmen who have been shot down. Mcnamara instructs Hart to watch out for the men, and this causes him to run afoul of the men he lives with, as they are very opposed to living with black officers. When one of the black pilots is framed and executed, tensions run high in the camp. The discovery of a dead white prisoner further complicates matters when the remaining black pilot is forced to stand trial for the crime and Hart is assigned to protect him.

It is at this point that the movie becomes uneven as its pacing and focus become very uneven. It seems as if director Gregory Hoblit was unsure if he wanted a prisoner escape film, a racial drama in the vein of “A Soldiers Story”, or a courtroom drama such as “A Few Good Men”. The screenplay by Billy Ray and Terry George does service to the book by John Katzenbach, but fails to have the emotional impact that the book had. Willis is good in a subdued role, as the audience is never sure of McNamara’s intentions until the very end. Farell plays Hart as a wide-eyed soldier who is removed from his place of comfort and has to develop the traits of leadership, loyalty, and honor as he learns that life in the camp and on the lines is not the starched uniforms and lifestyle to which he had become accustomed. Marcel Iures is effective in his portrayal as he is a man of diversity. Capable of killing without hesitation one minute and listening to jazz while reading Mark Twain the next, he is a loyal soldier who is determined to do his duty to the end.

The film is a hard one to get a grasp on, as it was a well-crafted film with some great cinema photography. The pacing of the film is slow as the film builds to its climax in an methodical manner that is plausible despite some Hollywood style trickery such as characters dragging events out in order for future events to happen even though their delays have no valid reasons and would not likely happen in reality. That being said, the film did entertain at times, but it left me with an empty feeling, as I did not gain hope, inspiration, or satisfaction from the characters and their stories, only acceptance of their fates much like the huddled masses imprisoned in the stalag.

3 stars out of 5

We return to the POW stalags of World War 2, where Allied prisoners were broken by the Nazis and forced to witness the war from a prison. Hollywood has ventured back to this part of the war many times. Why would they want us to journey back again?

Fresh upstart and fast rising star Colin Farrell stars as Lt. Thomas Hart, a newly arrived prisoner to the POW camp dubbed Stalag 6A. Hart has just gone through a rigorous journey that has brought him to the Stalag but the journey may have been easy compared to politics evolving at the camp. The camp is ruled by Col. William McNamara (Bruce Willis), who is a 4th generation American warrior who refuses to give up fighting a war which has forgotten him. McNamara sends Hart to bunk with the unlisted men so that an officer can watch the men and report back to him. Hart is reluctant but follows orders.

The very next day, before Hart can properly get settled with his bunkmates, the Colonel requests that two black airmen bunk in Hart’s building. This causes racial tensions and the men begin to lash out at each other. Two murders follow and the world within Stalag 6A begins to explode. It is up to Hart to uncover the basis behind the murders.

“Hart’s War” begins as a “classic” stalag war film with a dashing young lead that is thrown against the horrors of the Nazis. The film has a very impressive beginning as we follow Hart’s journey to Stalag 6A. Director Gregory Hoblit (Frequency, Primal Fear) shows Hart’s internal destruction and desperation. The director also uses flashbacks to cleverly uncover what was missed during Hart’s journey.

The film continues along and it is very interesting until it comes to one crucial scene in the “stalag’s morgue”. At the moment when the Nazi commander played by Marcel Iures reveals that he is a Yale graduate. I lost it. The credibility of the film, the setting and where the film was going made me cringe. Especially when the Nazi goes on to tell Hart that they are collegiate brothers and he will help him solve the case. A Nazi who enjoys the American legal system? Give me a break. Who thinks up this stuff?

The film focuses on the trial, the mystery and the camp’s politics. First of all, I have seen a more clever murder mysteries and trials on TV’s “Law & Order”. Second, all of this is set in a German POW camp. We journeyed all the way back to World War 2 for a dull murder and trial? Third, by making the Nazis likeable there really is no threat.

The film tries to make the Nazi Commander and Col. McNamara equals and we aren’t sure who Hart should trust. This never came to fruition for me. I had a hard time accepting the elements the film was trying to put together in its final act. This being one of them.

I enjoyed watching Colin Farrell. He is quickly becoming a great leading man. Bruce Willis is continuing his evolution into the “Clint Eastwood-Harrison Ford” form. He says very little and relies a lot on grunts and looks. I really miss the passionate performance Willis did in “Mortal Thoughts”.

This film’s POW camp wasn’t very realistic for my tastes. See the film “Gulag” starring David Keith and know what it is really like to be in a “concentration camp”. That film doesn’t have Nazis but it does have Cold War Soviets. That is a excellent film.

I would have liked to have seen Hart’s War turn into a “Great Escape” kind of film and have menacing Nazis again. Giving the Nazis feelings and passions is like what Anne Rice did when she neutered vampires. I don’t mean any disrespect but we really needed menacing Nazis in this film so that the film could maintain its tension; even if you do believe the hokey idea of an American court-martial trial within a concentration camp.

(3 of 5) So Says the Soothsayer.