Film Reviews by DJ

Not wishing to go too deep into the " meaning etc. " of the film , it was good to see that things do not appear to be straight forward anymore when having to make controversial life threatening decisions - lose one to save loads. Maybe the banter was not totally accurate but when you see the newspaper in uproar when soldiers are hounded by solicitors and tribunals , you can see where the film is going. Will they say "GO " , will the girl survive , not Hitchcock but certainly enough to keep you to the wondering to the end. Not the action film I thought it was going to be but it was a very good alternative. Recommended.

Pv - please note , its a film not a documentary.

As some one suggested , could be improved while having a drink. Run of the mill comedy/drama which did not exhaust the detective in ones self. No Oscar performances but better than THE REVERANT which bored me to death with the 2 hour traumatic craw across the screen.

If there was an Oscar for the longest crawl , with the most grunts of despair in a two and a half hour slot , then this would be the top prize. Ok , the bear scene was superb CGI and the snowy hostile terrain looked fantastic , but after two hours of him grunting and the same snowy landscape I was hoping David Attenborough would pop up to show us some real real action. If you have seen the trailer , thats it for the most of the action ! Very disappointing.

I agree with the sentiment that its jumping on the Slum Dog bandwagon. A "nice but nothing " film. A story line of underdog makes good but with no heart , humour or drama. As suggested , made for the female market and will probably pop up on Tv in the usual afternoon slush slot.

The first film was very predictable and seemed to just show someone taking revenge on those who have annoyed or abused him , nothing new and nothing "deep " about it.

The next was very much the same , a story line used many times before with a , once again , a predictable bloody ending.

I did not bother viewing any more as I was preparing for more of what I had previously seen.

I honestly do not know how the other critics managed to see anything special in these stories.

I watch a lot of foreign films and I just don't think these had anything like the drama and story lines of anything I have seen before.

I would not recommend it/them

Having read the book , which was an eye opener to the French attitude towards the oncoming war , I decided to take a gamble on the film. A gamble because the book was a first person account , which often loses its impact when misinterpreted by the directors/ producers. I was pleased to see that it was quite close to the book , with the first persons narrative being expressed as I though during my reading of the book. A thoughtful film which gives an insight in to the true horrors and feelings of the soldiers , who mistakenly joined up for " an adventure ". Recommended. Three stars if you have not read the book , four if you have

A story of a man fulfilling his boyhood dreams. Obviously the filmmakers have made some additions and stretched the truth a little but it does not detract from making this a very enjoyable family film with humor , drama and an inclination to root for the hero against the "establishment ". A feelgood film - and no swearing ! Recommended.

Without getting too deep into the meaning of the film and what it tries to tell you about family drama , what you certainly get is a film which carries you to old Provence and its traditions. Its well told story line of love lost , but the beauty of the film is that you become lost in old Provence yourself. A must for lovers of this era and region. Recommended

A reasonably good story but too many good v bad cliches. If you want a lot of action you get it but the shootings scenes were just too much , it felt as though the killing count was trying to exceed that of any film before it . It soon become ineffectual and monotonous , taking over the plot.

This was drama at its best. I was expecting an action war story but what I got was a film that brought home the true horror of war as experienced by real soldiers. The predicament they found themselves in was truly disturbing and the drama , along with not knowing what was going to happen next , was riveting. Never mind the Hollywood take on war and the gung ho yankees blasting their way to victory with heroes held high , true heroes are soldiers like those depicted in this film. A must see drama as good as any action film.