by Steve Warren

With so many war movies coming out these days, it's ironic that the only one with "war" in its title isn't really about war. It takes place during World War II, but so does Return to Never Land.

Hart's War, as the title implies, is about one man's experience of the war. Mostly it's about being a prisoner of war, and the second half is a courtroom drama, albeit a military court martial. The film is stunningly effective for the most part, until the final moments when everyone tries to out-hero each other; you won't find that much nobility in the House of Lords!

Colin Farrell plays Lt. Tommy Hart, moving closer to the stardom that should have been his after the curiously overlooked Tigerland. Hart entered the war during his second year at Yale Law School. Being a senator's son has kept him out of combat, even though he's stationed in Germany late in 1944. A routine driving assignment runs afoul of a German ambush and, after considerable excitement along the way, Hart rings in 1945 as a prisoner in Stalag VI-A in Augsburg, Germany.

The ranking American officer, Col. McNamara (Bruce Willis) establishes that Hart gave his captors more than his name, rank and serial number, and orders him to bunk with enlisted men in Barracks 27. There S/Sgt. Vic Bedford (Cole Hauser) is the guy there's one of in every prison movie, someone who can exchange a few cigarettes for anything you want.

With V-E Day still four months off, the camp is doing a brisk business in American, Russian, and other prisoners. Tension builds when two Tuskegee Airmen, Lts. Scott (Terrence Howard) and Archer (Vicellous Shannon), are added to the mix in Barracks 27. The "colored fliers" have been able to earn stripes but not the respect of men to whom racism was a way of life back home.

Bedford is the most outwardly antagonistic, and the most likely to have planted the evidence that gets Archer executed- despite the efforts of Hart, who has become the brothers' keeper- and others to prevent it. Days later Bedford is murdered, and Scott presumed guilty. Because it was a crime against another American, the Germans allow a court martial to take place. McNamara, who will preside, appoints Hart to defend Scott while Capt. Sisk (Sam Jaeger), "a real lawyer," handles the prosecution.

For the record, Scott insists he's innocent: "If I'd wanted to kill crackers I coulda stayed in Macon." The Nazis enjoy the spectacle of the Americans' more covert racism being exposed. With the taciturn, hard-to-read McNamara going out of his way to make things difficult for Hart, the frustrated lieutenant gets more help from the camp commandant, Col. Visser (Marcel Iures), who happens to have studied at Yale.

Curiously absent through most of the picture is talk of escape, usually the focal point of POW movies. Bide your time, for this will come.

As you might expect from Gregory Hoblit, director of Primal Fear, there are surprises aplenty as the real story begins to emerge. To some extent they help overcome the phony dramatic moments that start piling up with a scene between the two colonels and continue with Scott's soliloquy in court, which is beautifully delivered by Howard but contains too much obvious exposition. It's a tossup whether you'll buy the ending, but the script's integrity has been seriously compromised by this point.

That script, incidentally, comes from a novel by John Katzenbach, based in part on the POW experiences of his father, Nicholas Katzenbach, who went on to serve as US Attorney General under President Lyndon Johnson.

There are a couple of good action scenes but not enough for those who don't want anything else from a movie. Hart's War is aimed at lovers of courtroom drama, and while it doesn't hit a bull's-eye, it's not too far off the mark.

Rating (optional): *** (three stars)

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