REVIEW - THE BOOK THIEF

A vacuous and pointless adaptation of a novel, designed solely for children, on the ground that it is a story about children. This is a nonsensical assumption, since the setting is wartime Germany; would that the filmmakers had been able to identify this location in this era as more than just a backdrop for a schmaltzy tale of a girl who can't read, learns to read and then deals with the injustice of Nazi rule in her own solipsistic way. She doesn't behave like a child, she behaves like an idiot, and the film's reverence around her and whatever ridiculous fancy she might choose to be her cause only exacerbates feelings of animosity toward her, and slows down this long, uneventful and wholly predictable film even further. There's not much territory richer with dramatic potential than this, but The Book Thief is shallow and cold where it could have been emotionally and politically penetrating. As a kids' film (it's more distressing than the average kids' film, though this is one of few elements that is not average here), it steadfastly steers clear of any and all problematic material, instead depicting the Nazis as an unwelcome force in their own country and their tyranny as nothing more than the occasional burst of rudeness and mild violence. It'd be comical, if this film had any concept of comedy. There's the notion that a hint or two or twee humour might enliven proceedings, but the writing is so tone-deaf, and the second-language performances of the child leads so stilted that it remains merely a hint. John Williams' score has its moments, and is far and away the best thing in this, while the visual design is rote and much too glossy and bespoke to convince.