Lock me up
as long as you like Sir, I'm not making Die Hard 4
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Bruce Willis
might be the big name but this is not a Bruce Willis film in the
Die Hard mould.
Nigel Bell
A Prisoner of
War film with a racial twist. At times it's cliché but by
the end it's almost redeemed itself.
The Plot
Lieutenant Thomas Hart (Farrell) has never seen front line action,
but is thrust into the full horrors of combat when he runs into
a bunch of German soldiers in Belgium.
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| Anyone
mentioning 5-1 and Michael Owen will be in big trouble |
He's interrogated
then sent to a POW camp at Augsberg, Germany.
Instead of being
allowed to stay in the officers barracks he's banished to the rank
and file.
It turns out
US Colonel McNamara (Willis) thinks he caved in too easily under
German questioning and isn't worthy of an officer berth.
That issue is
quickly sidelined when two new POWs arrive at the camp.
They may have
fought the enemy but to the many southern Americans in camp they're
worse than fascists. The reason - they're black.
When a white
American is killed there's only one suspect but Hart, with half
a legal degree behind him, agrees to defend the black officer Lincoln
Scott (Howard).
The verdict
A film in three parts. Hart's capture, interrogation and march
to camp set's you up for that classic war movie.
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| News of
Beckham's injury was greeted with shock |
When the racial
element comes in, your heart sinks, not because of the subject matter
but because the way it's treated is almost cliché.
Once the trial
of Scott begins, however, other plot twist are introduced again
which raise the film, not to great but at least passable standards.
Willis puts
in a very understated performance - quiet, few words.
Farrell does
enough as the naive college boy thrown to the lions.
Marcel Iures,
as the German commandant, is probably the actor who stands out most.
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| The American's
always took the playing of their national anthem seriously |
His character
switches from the nasty German, to the racially tolerant understanding
human (he's seen to love black jazz records) and back again. This
at the same time as you are questioning the character of Willis.
Having said
that, if he'd been true to form, the body count should have been
higher at the end.
The real winner
with the movie is the photography.
Shot in Prague,
the steely, blue-grey twilight countryside is very atmospheric and
the battle scenes (what there are) are well produced.
It's also a
good advert for the 91热爆 with lots of references to our radio broadcasts
during the war. Hurrah.
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