Director: Mark Schmidt
Writers: Mark Schmidt, Randy Williams, D. Scott Trawick, Christopher Williams, Patrick Million and Richard Lasser
Cast: Jonas Armstrong, Hannah Tointon, Ben Kingsley
Studio: Liberty Studios
“Walking with the Enemy” is about the Jewish resistance to the Nazi invaders in Hungary. Well, it’s also about political maneuvering and finding strange allies. But, it’s also about human endurance. Basically, it’s a very sincere movie with limited focus. Sir Ben Kingsley leads the cast in an attempt to show that resistance comes in many forms. However, not all work when you’re forced to make concessions to keep your people safe. There are minor historical flourishes provided for the sake of drama, but I can’t call it a bad movie.
Liberty Studios has produced a film that serves as a great start for later things. That being said, I don’t quite see what’s going to move on from here. Making fairly workable WWII films isn’t exactly an economic goldmine. However, I see enough talent here that I can see Liberty expand into other realms. The need for a tighter script is present, as the six writer situation has created a jumbled mess. It’s not the worst thing, but it only helps to distract from the basics of a rather compelling story.
The guy who played Robin Hood for the BBC is quite capable as the young lead. However, he never really gets to break out of his shell due to the stakes being so widely known. It’s kind of hard to question his actions, when you know that he’s fighting against genocide. That being said, if you step back…you can see that his character arc is narrow and doesn’t allow for a personality to develop. But, that’s the issue with audience acceptance of Holocaust dramas. Creative talent almost dares you to call into question whether or not there is any artistic merit to the original work. If it were up to me, I really wouldn’t go out of my way to see this in a theater. It’s prime home video viewing.
RELEASE DATE: 04/25/2014