Review of The Book Thief (2013) by Foxgrove — 09 Mar 2014

An air of artifice hangs over 'The Book Thief' like a heavy fog and not even seasoned pro's like Emily Watson and Geoffrey Rush can save it from being a stultifying bore. This Second World War story is based on a best selling novel but its adaptation here is protracted and bloodless and must be classed a major disappointment.

Young Sophie Nelisse, as the titular character, looks the part but her line delivery at times comes over as phonetic. The production itself looks immaculate, but again this is also a big problem. as everything is just so pristine.

At one point Emily Watson berates the girl as being 'filthy' when in fact she looks as if she is on her way to a photo shoot. A bogus in-authenticity pervades and prevents the film from generating any true emotion or pathos.

John Williams' pretty score adds to the detrimental effect and actually feels as if it belongs to another type of movie in another era. A couple of scenes do ignite. The cellar search grabs one's attention temporarily and the ending, coming as it does from left field, causes one to stir in a way that the rest of the film never does.

I also have to mention that the scene where Geoffrey Rush plays his accordion whilst everyone is hiding in an air raid shelter, made me think that the cast were going to start singing Oom Pah Pah a la Carol Reed's musical Oliver! One thing I did like was the unusual narrative device which is intrigueingly employed at the beginning and used to devastating effect at the end.