MOVIE REVIEW - Defiance

Daniel Craig is back on the big screen, this time he's James Bondless in the new true story of Defiance. Defiance now in wide release, originally in some theaters in December, has gotten lost in the midst of all of the big hyped movies. The timing of this movie is curious , I think mid fall would serve it much better than the Holidays or soon after.

Defiance is the true story of a group of Jewish brothers in WWII who defiantly hid hundreds of Jews from the Nazi's and kept them safe in the early days of the war. They built a "city" deep in the woods of war torn Russia out of sight from the German SS. All the while stealing food, and supplies in one way or another to stay alive in the hopes that help would soon arrive. Moving and rebuilding a few times to stay away from Nazi patrols and SS guards.

Defiance is the struggle of survival, infighting, brotherly rivalry, and the huge pressure these defiant people were under during troubling times in world history. The movies main attribute is the truly amazing story. These are absolutely incredible people performing a feat that most of us could not imagine, fighting for their very lives against all odds - with literally nothing. It's also a story that really has never been told before, and that is compelling.

But with all that said, from a movie standpoint, Defiance has it's troubles. First, Defiance is too long, two hours and twenty minutes. Not normally bothersome for a really good movie, but there is an awful lot of the same thing here time after time. Shorter would have been better. Many side plots do not serve this film as well as the intention. Defiance also to be honest, is probably a better "story" than "movie." This great story is not really captured in a riveting form like it maybe could be. It's interesting enough alright, but the picture doesn't jump out of the screen and hold you like it could have. This movie has a few draggy areas that make you want something to happen on screen. A tighter edit, is in order.

But this is not a bad night at the movies by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not the really great movie it maybe could have been. More than likely a real movie goers movie, and having some knowledge of WWII is really a must. Defiance doesn't spend a whole lot of time giving you a history lesson to get you caught up up front.

Defiance. Story - Great Movie - Okay.