HART'S WAR
Starring:
Bruce Willis, Colin Ferrell and Terrence Howard
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Running Time: 125 mins
Certificate: 15
Available to buy on DVD 14th October
Making his way through World War II reading maps at the Belgian US Army HQ, Lt. Thomas Hart (Ferrell) had never seen any action but that was what his Senator father wanted. While driving back to his barracks he is captured by the Germans and transferred to a POW camp. A few days after his arrival two black officers are transferred to the camp, raising racial tension within the inmates. When the ringleader of the prejudiced witch-hunt is found dead and Lt. Lincoln Scott (Howard) found standing over the body, Hart is assigned as lawyer in a court-martial hearing to be led by the camp's senior officer Col. William McNamara (Willis). During his investigations into the incident, Hart finds out that there is more to the murder than he first thought.
After bombing in the US my expectations for this movie were quite low but I was pleasantly surprised to find that is wasn't the unmitigated disaster that I had been told to expect.
Colin Ferrell continues to show the promise he showed in Tigerland with another good performance. Bruce Willis on the other hand, doesn't really have the screen presence to be hardened commanding officer that an older actor would have had. There just seems to be something lacking from his performance that dulls the believability of his character.
The plot is slow moving and confined to the camp for most of the film, so anyone expecting an action packed Bruce Willis movie will be totally disappointed. The film does take a daring stance on racism with the US ranks during the War but also throws in a large dollop of honour and duty to compensate for it. The film is still very watchable however, even with the lack of any British troops within the camp and the usual American slant on the Second World War, that they where the only ones in it.
Audio commentary with star Bruce Willis, director Gregory Hoblit and screenwriter Billy Ray, Audio commentary with producer David Foster, Deleted scenes, Photo galleries, Interactive menu, Scene access & Dolby Digital (5.1)
The Usher Home | Hush, Hush... | The Big Story | The Usher Speaks
Stuck @ Home | Coming Soon | Links | Contact the Usher
The Usher 2002
