Trial by Fire
2018
**½
Director: Edward Zwick
Cast: Jack O'Connell, Laura Dern, Emily Meade, Chris Coy, Jeff Perry, David Wilson Barnes, Carlos Gómez, Jade Pettyjohn, Wayne Péré, Rhoda Griffis
In 1992, Cameron Todd Willingham is sentenced to death for the arson-related deaths of his three children. While on death row, he meets Elizabeth Gilbert, a divorced philanthropist, who becomes convinced that he didn't get a fair trial. Edward Zwick is a specialist in turning compelling fact-based stories into cheesy crowdpleasers. He is not able to give a happy ending to this true story, but he manages to fill the running time with clichés and trashy characters. As a commentary on capital punishment, Zwick's film is closer to The Life of David Gale than Dead Man Walking. Based on a 2009 New Yorker article Trial by Fire by David Grann.
Defiance
2008
**½
Director: Edward Zwick
Cast: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, George MacKay, Alexa Davalos, Allan Corduner, Mark Feuerstein, Tomas Arana, Mia Wasikowska, Iben Hjejle
When the German troops march into eastern Poland (present-day Belarus) in August 1941, a group of Jews, led by the Bielski brothers, hide in the nearby forest. They set up a camp and form a Jewish partisan group, but the two eldest brothers eventually clash on whether they should kill as many Nazis or save as many lives as they can. By the end of the war, more than 1,200 refugees survived. Edward Zwick, the king of issuetainment, takes this incredible fact-based survival story, smooths out the rough edges of history, and creates a gripping and easy-to-digest depiction of heroism. Amidst the horrors of war and starvation, he finds time for some exciting action set pieces and sweet forest-bound romance. There's even a candle-lit bedroom scene in the dugout. In this world, the Germans speak German, the Russians speaks Russian, and the Jews speak English with a generic Eastern European accent. These numerous authenticity issues niggled at my enjoyment and raised some totally irrelevant questions, such as how come Daniel Craig looks so well-groomed after months in the woods? Based on Nechama Tec's book Defiance: The Bielski Partisans.
Blood Diamond
2006
**½
Director: Edward Zwick
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly, Kagiso Kyupers
Edward Zwick wants to make ambitious and worthy dramas, but he doesn't like to leave the audience too depressed at the end of the film. The finished product always feels like a compromise. His latest example is set in civil war-ridden Sierra Leone where conflict diamonds are mined with slave labour in order to buy arms for child soldiers. A thought-provoking setting, but, in all honesty, this is just a rip roaring action adventure about a white mercenary who wants to get his hands on a gigantic diamond which was hidden by a local man whose family is torn apart. The film paints a believable picture of the conflict, but offers a laughably implausible solution to one man's private hell. DiCaprio and Hounsou are great, though.
The Last Samurai
2003
**½
Director: Edward Zwick
Cast: Tom Cruise, Ken Watanabe, Timothy Spall, Tony Goldwyn
This beautifully staged but painfully obvious drama recycles Dances with Wolves and Shogun into a story about a scarred Civil War veteran who travels to Japan to train its army in modern warfare. After the initial arrogance our hero embraces the local culture and masters the art of samurai in a jiffy. Tom Cruise is miscast in the leading role. Nice New Zealand scenery.
The Siege
1998
***
Director: Edward Zwick
Cast: Denzel Washington, Bruce Willis, Annette Bening, Tony Shalhoub
An FBI agent investigates a series of terrorist attacks on the U.S. soil, which result in the President declaring martial law. Post-9/11 the first half of this captivating drama seems incredibly realistic. Sadly the film falls apart in the second half when it concentrates on a power struggle between the agent and a U.S. Army Colonel.
Courage Under Fire
1996
**½
Director: Edward Zwick
Cast: Meg Ryan, Denzel Washington, Lou Diamond Philips, Michael Moriarty
You need to suspend your disbelief to accept Meg Ryan as a Black Hawk pilot who was shot down during the Gulf War. Denzel Washington is more believable as a Lieutenant Colonel who tries to determine whether she should receive a posthumous Medal of Honor. This pompous military drama turns a young mother's premature death into a patriotic celebration of bravery. However, I lost my interest in the characters before the dramatic finale.
Legends of the Fall
1994
*½
Director: Edward Zwick
Cast: Brad Pitt, Aidan Quinn, Henry Thomas, Anthony Hopkins, Julia Ormond
A ludicrously over-blown soap opera Western about three brothers who all love the same woman at some point in their lives. Anthony Hopkins gives one of his most embarrassing performances as their father, especially in the scenes after the character suffers a stroke. The story starts before the First World War and ends somewhere in the 1930, but Brad Pitt's hair remains unchanged through the decades. Based on Jim Harrison's novella.
Glory
1989
***
Director: Edward Zwick
Cast: Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes, Morgan Freeman
A dry but compelling story about Colonel Robert Gould Shaw who led the first entirely coloured unit in the Civil War. This worthy story is about black men, but it's told from a white man's point of view. It's hard to ídentify with this many characters, which becomes an issue when the men start falling like flies. The screenplay is based on Shaw's personal letters and two novels.
About Last Night
1986
**½
Director: Edward Zwick
Cast: Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, James Belushi, Elisabeth Perkins
A forgettable romantic drama in which Rob Lowe and Demi Moore spend most of the running time talking on the bed semi-naked. This is not much more than a filmed play, even if it's a David Mamet play (Sexual Perversity in Chicago).
