ENEMY AT THE GATES (15)

Reviewed by Pete Henshaw

ENGLISH actor Jude Law has once again proven his ability to perform.

As far as I am aware I have not seen Jude and his traditional English accent put in a dodgy performance yet.

And with the excellent Talented Mr Ripley and Enemy At The Gates now firmly under his belt we can expect Jude to go on to Hollywood greatness.

Coming back to Enemy At The Gates, this 135 minute World War II epic turns into a brilliantly crafted war film with cast members who go as far towards achieving this brilliance as the script and the direction.

It focuses on the Russian conflict with Nazi Germany in 1942 and the battle for Stalingrad which was, not that most Hollywood films recognise it, key to victory in the war.

In desperate need of a hero to motivate the weakened Russian troops political officer Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) meets expert gunman and loyal Russian Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law).

Vassili is turned into a martyr for the Russian cause inspiring hope and courage in the fightback against the Germans.

However, the Germans send in their top sharp-shooter Major Konig (Ed Harris) to battle Vassili and so a head-to-head battle of epic proportions begins in the midst of the battles in war torn Stalingrad.

Love interest Tania Chernova (Rachel Weisz) and ruthless Russian leader Kruschev (Bob Hoskins) also excel and of the several main characters I do not think there is one bad performance.

French director, Jean-Jacques Annaud, produces an atmospheric and realistic portrayal of the conflict and the continental flavour in the cast ensures the production is sufficiently different from the now cliched American war films, such as Saving Private Ryan.

The violence in the battles is quite graphic but this is perhaps to be expected with this genre and the battle of tactics and wills between Konig and Vassili creates good tension.

The film does not forget to keep you up with the overall story of the battle for Stalingrad itself but concentrates sufficiently on the head-to-head between Vassili and Konig, and the love story also provides an intriguing sub-plot.

If you like war films then this is for you, but then again if you like love stories, knife-edge drama, good effects..., well you get the idea.

Verdict: Cool Jude

Rating: 8/10

CINEMA TICKET COMPETITION

CONTINUING our weekly cinema competition, we have another family ticket for the film of your choice at the Odeon in Festival Park, Hanley.

The four tickets, worth £20, will be valid from Monday through until Thursday for a film of the winner's choosing as long as you can get to the theatre yourself.

To enter just answer the following question about this week's film review and send the answer along with a daytime telephone number to The Cinema Competition, Crewe Guardian, 42 High Street, Crewe, CW2 7BN or send an e-mail to us at crewe@guardiangrp.co.uk with your answer.

To win this week just name the Jude Law film in which he starred alongside Matt Damon and have your answers in by March 22, the winner for the March 1 Finding Forrester competition is Mrs S Harrison from Crewe.