Delayed Reaction: Enemy at the Gates

The Pitch: We're almost out of WWII stories. What's left? Snipers. Has anyone done snipers? No? Great. Start collecting people you assume were in Saving Private Ryan but weren't.

What Took Me So Long: I confused it too often with Behind Enemy Lines. I think that's a fair mistake.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) I don't remember the last time I saw a WWII movie from a Russian perspective. That was a change of pace. Despite being set during one of the most protracted battles of the war, the stakes are very personal, and everything possible is done to keep a movie about snipers interesting. I'm coming to realize that Rachel Weisz was around a lot more and for longer than I realized [before 2005-ish]. Always happy to have her around.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: No matter what they do, it's still a movie about snipers. That's inherently either not very exciting or requires them to do far more than snipers actually do. The love triangle nonsense played more like filler too than an actual interesting plot. The only truly surprising moment was when Ed Harris really does kill the kid.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend