By Phil Curtolo
Sandra Bullock may seem to be a good actress in a role like Annie in Speed or Lucy in While You Were Sleeping, but when it comes down to solid performances in strong dramas, she just doesn't cut it. Fortunately, Richard Attenborough's new film In Love and War didn't call for Bullock to carry the film. Instead, it based the movie on Chris O'Donnell's brilliant performance as Ernest Hemingway.
Set in Italy in World War I (just like the Golden Globe award-winning The English Patient), the story is centered on Hemingway's epic war adventures, especially how he attempted to carry a wounded Italian soldier through a bombardment. He is seriously injured and is sent to the local American Red Cross hospital. It is there where he meets the love of his life, Agnus (Bullock).
Things don't exactly fall into place as Ernie wanted them to. Agnus feels that he is just an adorable child and that their relationship is nothing more than a fling. She eventually turns him down for a wealthy Italian doctor, leaving her war-torn love in pain. The end of the film leaves a teary Hemingway alone at his father's cabin in Michigan.
The cinematography in the film was twice as beautiful as that in The English Patient. Background shots ranged from a beautiful mansion on a river bed to a gorgeous, blooming forest.
In Love and War also features the great young actor Mackenzie Austin (Iron Will) as Ernie's best friend Harry. He played some what of a middle man, at first caught in a bitter love triangle and later, as their messenger.
Attenborough's attempts to recreate the drama behind World War I were definitely successful. Although most of the film took place in the hospital, the few battle scenes were one of the best of their kind, much like Oscar-winner's Glory and Braveheart.
Although the trailer looks to be similar to the disastrous "love-story" The English Patient, In Love and War shines way above it, in more ways than one. The cinematography, the acting (of O'Donnell, not Bullock), and the directing were all much better. If you want to see a real love story, don't waste your money on Patient, instead, see an interesting, romantic drama like In Love and War. Grade: B, *** out of *****
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