Farrell ... thankfully manages to outshine the role and successfully plays the foil to Willis's world-weary colonel.
Hart's War (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:116
Fresh:67
Rotten:49
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: Well-made and solidly acted, Hart's War is modestly compelling. However, the movie suffers from having too many subplots.
Runtime: 2 hrs 5 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Director Gregory Hoblit's debut feature was the tricky courtroom drama PRIMAL FEAR. With his fourth feature, HART'S WAR, Hoblit is back with another. This time the court is inside a WWII... Director Gregory Hoblit's debut feature was the tricky courtroom drama PRIMAL FEAR. With his fourth feature, HART'S WAR, Hoblit is back with another. This time the court is inside a WWII prisoner-of-war camp. The defendant is Lieutenant Lincoln Scott (Terrence Howard), a black officer accused of killing a racist sergeant (Cole Hauser). Scott's lawyer is Lieutenant Tommy Hart (Colin Farrell), a second-year law student at Yale. A U.S. senator's son, Hart was having a relatively easy war until he was captured, interrogated, and sent to Stalag VI. The camp commandant is the urbane, charming, and ruthless SS Major Visser (compellingly played by Rumanian actor Marcel Iures). The ranking American officer at the camp is Colonel William McNamara (Bruce Willis), and Hart is soon in conflict with him. When Scott is accused of murder, McNamara insists that the prisoners should hold a court martial, and he appoints Hart counsel for the defense. At the court martial, Hart finds his client is being railroaded, although he gets help from unexpected quarters. Intricately plotted by scriptwriters Billy Ray and Terry George, and filmed by Hoblit with his accustomed attention to detail, HART'S WAR is a devious and absorbing courtroom/POW drama. [More]
Starring: Bruce Willis, Colin Farrell, Terrence Howard, Vicellous Shannon
Starring: Bruce Willis, Colin Farrell, Terrence Howard, Vicellous Shannon, Jonathan Brandis, Scott Michael Campbell, Rory Cochrane, Cole Hauser, Michael Landes, Michael Weston, Sam Worthington, Marcel Iures, Linus Roache
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Screenwriter: Terry George, Billy Ray
Producer: Wolfgang Glattes, David Ladd, David Foster
Composer: Rachel Portman
Studio: MGM/UA
Reviews for Hart's War
A serious and absorbing drama with the old-fashioned notion of telling a story and taking the necessary time to do so.
While the stoically delivered hokum of Hart's War is never fun, it's still a worthy addition to the growing canon of post-Saving Private Ryan tributes to the greatest generation.
powerfully "captivating" first twenty minutes, but from there, meanders, searches under barrack bunks and into hollowed-out trim wood for a unified direction.
The WWII drama is well plotted, visually striking and filled with enjoyably complex characters who are never what they first appear.
A study in shades of gray, offering itself up in subtle plot maneuvers...
The movie itself is far from disappointing, offering an original take on courtroom movies, a few nifty twists that are so crucial to the genre and another first-rate performance by top-billed star Bruce Willis.
It's hard to know whether or not to recommend this film because for every thing it does right there's at least one and occasionally two things it gets ever so wrong.
This is one of those war movies that focuses on human interaction rather than battle and action sequences ... and it's all the stronger because of it.
...breathes surprising new life into the familiar by amalgamating genres and adding true human complexity to its not-so-stock characters.
Latest News for Hart's War
July 24, 2007:
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