Defiance

Starring: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, Alexa Davalos, George MacKay,
Directed by: Edward Zwick
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Thriller, War
Box Office: $
2008

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Three Jewish brothers (Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell) escape into the German woods during World War II. Fighting to survive, they soon take on other Jewish refugees. As more and more people flee the NAZIs, their group grows larger and larger, which makes it increasingly tougher to survive in the unforgiving woods, far from civilization.

Review:

Tim: Edward Zwick gives us a movie that manages to be both powerful and quiet at the same time. Defiance is a big movie that feels quite intimate. It is fueled by some impressive performances, solid filmmaking, and an incredible true story. This movie might not be one of the best of the year, or one of the most flashy, memorable movies, but it is very good.

I was so impressed with the three main actors. Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, and Jamie Bell all give wonderful performances. I didn't exactly buy them all as brothers, but this is a small fact to overlook. They interact so well together on screen. Craig is in the lead role, and does an admirable job. I liked his accent, and I thought he gave a strong, heroic performance. Liev Schreiber is easy to overlook, but he gives a quietly impressive performance. He is always such a complex, complicated actor that his characters always take on some of the deepness. I liked his performance. Jamie Bell might give the most enjoyable performance, which is surprising since you'd expect him to live in the shadows of the better Craig and Schreiber. Bell is just so likeable though, that it is impossible not to be impressed by him. In many ways, he is the heart of the movie and an instrumental piece of its success.

This is not a flawless movie, but that's not surprising. It is a bit long, which makes it a little bit of a chore to watch it. There are some scenes that could have been streamlined, but not a whole lot. The movie does take a great deal of time to develop its characters, and I appreciated that. It also balances out these dramatic scenes with a few action ones, which keeps the movie infused with energy at all times.

Defiance is one of the those films that tells an incredible true story, which is somewhat hard to believe. I really enjoyed watching the story unfold, but I was a bit surprised that it didn't effect me more on an emotional level. I was certainly entertained and informed, but this is such an emotional story- which a bigger punch, this movie could have been great. Still, I have few faults with this solid, straightforward movie that sets out only to tell an inspiring, uplifting story about the best of humanity existed in the middle of its worst. There are so many WWII movies out there that I often question why we need more. Defiance is unique enough that I am glad to add this to the list.





Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



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