.
For the Better Good
Lt. Thomas Hart (Colin Farrell) is stationed behind the lines when the Battle of the Bulge is taking place. As the son of a congressman, he's put in a safe position. But when he and another officer are ambushed by Nazi soldiers while driving in the snowy woods of Czechoslovakia in December 1944, Hart becomes a prisoner of war and is sent to a stalag next to a munitions plant. Komandant Werner Visser (Marcel Iures) runs a tight encampment but has some benevolence toward the Americans there because, like Hart, he was Yale educated.
The highest ranking US officer at the stalag -- Col. McNamara (Bruce Willis) -- also runs a tight site. When two Tuskegee Institute-trained African-American pilots -- Lt. Lincoln Scott (Terrence Howard) and Lt. Lamar Archer (Vicellous Shannon) -- are brought to the camp, racism among the GIs rears its head leaving Hart completely disgusted. McNamara does little to quell it. But when one of the most foul racists, Staff Sgt. Vic Bedford (Cole Hauser), is strangled in the yard in the middle of the night, Scott is accused of the murder. Rather than allowing the Komandant to execute Scott on the spot, McNamara demands a court martial hearing to be conducted by by the Americans with McNamara as judge and jury.
Hart is appointed defense attorney for Scott because he's had two years of law school. Convinced of Scott's innocence, Hart has an uphill battle and is not encouraged by McNamara. Getting madder by the minute, Hart wonders why McNamara is willing to sacrifice this innocent man.
Also appearing are Linus Roache, Maury Sterling, Sam Jaeger, Scott Michael Campbell, Rory Cochrane, Sebastian Tillinger, Rick Ravanello.
Intense and at times brutal with some stunning attack scenes and, according to former real-life POWs, a great degree of authenticity.
Directed by Gregory Hoblit.
Run time: 2 hours, 5 minutes
Rated R for some strong war violence and language.
My personal rating: B+
Lt. Thomas Hart (Colin Farrell) is stationed behind the lines when the Battle of the Bulge is taking place. As the son of a congressman, he's put in a safe position. But when he and another officer are ambushed by Nazi soldiers while driving in the snowy woods of Czechoslovakia in December 1944, Hart becomes a prisoner of war and is sent to a stalag next to a munitions plant. Komandant Werner Visser (Marcel Iures) runs a tight encampment but has some benevolence toward the Americans there because, like Hart, he was Yale educated.
The highest ranking US officer at the stalag -- Col. McNamara (Bruce Willis) -- also runs a tight site. When two Tuskegee Institute-trained African-American pilots -- Lt. Lincoln Scott (Terrence Howard) and Lt. Lamar Archer (Vicellous Shannon) -- are brought to the camp, racism among the GIs rears its head leaving Hart completely disgusted. McNamara does little to quell it. But when one of the most foul racists, Staff Sgt. Vic Bedford (Cole Hauser), is strangled in the yard in the middle of the night, Scott is accused of the murder. Rather than allowing the Komandant to execute Scott on the spot, McNamara demands a court martial hearing to be conducted by by the Americans with McNamara as judge and jury.
Hart is appointed defense attorney for Scott because he's had two years of law school. Convinced of Scott's innocence, Hart has an uphill battle and is not encouraged by McNamara. Getting madder by the minute, Hart wonders why McNamara is willing to sacrifice this innocent man.
Also appearing are Linus Roache, Maury Sterling, Sam Jaeger, Scott Michael Campbell, Rory Cochrane, Sebastian Tillinger, Rick Ravanello.
Intense and at times brutal with some stunning attack scenes and, according to former real-life POWs, a great degree of authenticity.
Directed by Gregory Hoblit.
Run time: 2 hours, 5 minutes
Rated R for some strong war violence and language.
My personal rating: B+
No comments:
Post a Comment