Jean-Jacques Annaud

It may well be that this story of snipers sniping at each other in the ruins of Stalingrad in 1942 is too long; certainly the romance sub-plot is superfluous and should have been omitted. It wastes Rachel Weisz and distracts from the main flow of events. Little attempt is made to explain the overall military context, but perhaps that is deliberate. Jude Law is unexpectedly good as the young shepherd from the Urals who enters into a deadly compeition with a mysterious and world-weary German major (Ed Harris, who mainly smokes or points his rifle). Joseph Fiennes is only so-so as a political commissar, and Bob Hoskins rants and raves as Khruschev, But there is a sensitive and affecting performance from Gabriel Thomson as the star-struck boy Sacha, though he is rather older than the film, presumably for sentimental reasons, claims.… (more)