I hate movies like this one. It begins by showing you the gory and gritty nature of war via the use of violent imagery and adrenaline-laced action sequences. It ends as some sappy "heart-wrenching" drama that teaches us sad immoral miscreants the lessons for life. Hell, I never saw it coming; I was just as shocked as the next guy that this movie, which was advertised as a World War II Nazi war action/drama, turned into a lecture on racial tensions between blacks and whites. I can tell you the exact point in Hart's War when it changed from decent flick to shameless trash. It happened right about the time the movie became a racially-motivated courtroom drama. No, I kid you not. The movie takes place in a Nazi POW camp, with silver screen sissy boy Colin Farrell as Lieutenant Thomas Hart and Bruce Willis as Colonel McNamara. Not that Colin Farrell is necessarily a sissy, but when you agree to take on a role like Lt. Hart's, you're just asking to be labeled a pantywaist..... just ask Joseph Fiennes about his role in Enemy at the Gates. Anyhow, this Nazi POW camp is not your garden variety POW camp. Conditions are rather nice, you see, and the captured Allied soldiers are allowed to sleep in nice bunk beds spaced out in reasonably sized barracks. Those cantankerous Nazis even grant the men luxurious amenities like footwear and clothes! Man, those Nazis must have been swell guys. That is, until a racially motivated conflict occurs in the barracks between two black officers and a lowly white NCO. When one of the black officers is accused of killing the white officer, the shit hits the fan. At this point, Hart's War becomes the racial courtroom drama. The Nazis even allow the Allies to set up a mock courtroom for the proceedings. Swell guys, the Nazis. The Nazi colonel (who looks like Christopher Lloyd at times) even attends the court with his men, the fact that the World War is still going on notwithstanding! One of my favorite parts is when the defense (led by Lt. Hart, of course) accuses the Nazis of killing the white officer and pinning the murder on the black officer because the Nazis are racist!! Hmm, am I missing something here? The Nazis don't hate you because you're black... they hate you because you're not a Nazi!! Geez, what a load. This movie just oozes foolishness.
Hart's War actually ends on a much different note; however, this movie still sucks. Subtract the race card and this movie would have been much better. I'm sick of being lectured to and slapped on the wrist by holier-than-thou Hollywood screenwriters. Quit advertising movies as being different from what people are actually going to be watching. |
