Movie Review - The Book Thief

The Book Thief (2013)

Starring Sophie Nélisse, Geoffrey Rush, Ben Schnetzer, and Emily Watson

Directed by Brian Percival

The Book Thief feels like a low-grade Diary of Anne Frank and, despite being nicely acted and adequately directed, it's one of the least interesting World War II-era films I've seen.  After given up for adoption by her mother, young Liesel (Sophie Nélisse) is taken in by Germans Hans and Rosa Hubermann (Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson).  Liesel's only possession is a book she stole from a gravedigger at her younger brother's funeral and she finds herself bonding with Hans over her desire to learn how to read and become better educated.  With Hitler's army on the rise, Hans and Rosa agree to hide a young twentysomething named Max (Ben Schnetzer), a Jew whose parents were good friends with the Hubermanns prior to Hitler.  The dynamics of this new "family" shape the remainder of the movie...which really doesn't become any cohesive shape at all.

The Book Thief fails to resonate in the slightest.  The family dynamic (which is certainly supposed to be the emotional crux of the film) fails miserably and there's not any unique "war" situation brought to the forefront at all.  With neither family or war packing an emotional punch, the film plays like a WWII film aimed at ten year-olds and, let's be honest, that age bracket would have zero desire to see it in the first place.  And, if they did want to see something of that nature they'd be much better served watching Anne Frank.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-