Now I will hold up my hand and admit that in Layer Cake, Daniel Craig was star of show and well worth the DVD purchase for repeated use. However, is it just me that has noticed that ever since he won the race to the role of the first blonde 007 (this can be an entire post in itself about how I disagree with this concept...but anyway), he simply retains the fixed pout throughout every scene, standing upright and praying his new-found muscles through his James Bond training protrude through his clothing. I wonder if he had a vain enough request for a topless scene denied?Arguably however, his Russian accent I must admit was fairly accurate, and the fact that he attempted to even speak Russian was admirable and virtually provided the 1-2/10 that I've rated this movie. This does not mean that he was solid though, as every now and then he slipped back into a British/Scottish accent. Now don't get me wrong, Blood Diamond and The Last Samurai were two fantastic films directed by Edward Zwick, Blood Diamond being one of the most intense films I've watched in a long time, and The Last Samurai's superb Hans Zimmer soundtrack, however this film tries to describe a rushed version of the horrors the Jews faced during World War 2 in German-Occupied Eastern Europe in ironically, 137 minutes.
Sure it was nominated for an Academy Award...albeit for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score (James Newton Howard), rather than the actual film itself.
The story follows four Jewish Belorussian brothers, lead by Tuvia Bielski (Daniel Craig) and his brother Zus Bielski (Liev Schreiber), who escape the slaughtering of their village, in addition to Soviet bounty-hunters selling live Jews to the Nazis in exchange for cash, whatever their condition. The majority of the film is situated in the forests of Belarus, where the brave survivors intend to reclaim their lives as free men and women and set up a new home in the woods, including calling a truce with the neighbouring Soviet partisans through the infamous Bielski name borne through their various acts of defiance (the name really gives it away...) against the Nazis.
The movie sounds fantastic on paper, however it is extremely far-fetched, to the point that the houses they have made include metal door hinges, windows, enough food and water to supply a thousand people (how?!) and most probably central heating with a jacuzzi. Furthermore, the defiant band of Jews find it extremely easy to break in and out of Nazi camps holding the Jews and don't ever seem to follow them into the woods.
It can be mentioned that it is nice to see Jamie Bell finally escaping his Billy Elliot image, and whilst he did not hold the award for "Best Russian Accent" out of all the refugees in the forest, he put on a solid acting display. It can also be mentioned that Schreiber's performance was also admirable. See below for the official trailer to the movie and you can make your own judgement.
This movie has been rated a very low score because of the reasons mentioned above and not one I'd recommend sitting over two hours through, considering the camera-lense filter seemed to be set permanently in the dark (whether this was to add to the realism of the forest or purely accidental I don't know), not to mention Daniel Craig's wooden performance. it can be argued that there were a few action scenes that gripped the audience, albeit for a few minutes or so.
The Holocaust was an event unimaginable to anything that occurs in this modern day and age, and this movie does not intend on reducing the impact of these brave individuals, however they do not seem to make it convincing enough, which is a sad scenario to comprehend.
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