The Book Thief (2013) Movie Review

THE BOOK THIEF (2013) MOVIE REVIEW

Having hopes for this film, I was obviously expecting something a little more "different". What I wasn't expecting was this film to actually steal something other than books.

Based on the highly acclaimed novel of the same name, The Book Thief revolves around a young girl named Liesel Meminger (Sophie Nelisse) as she has been recently adopted due to the passing of her younger brother. After this unfortunate passing, she has now been adopted by an elderly couple named Hans (Geoffrey Rush) and Rosa Hubermann (Emily Watson). Now subjected to the terrors of WWII Germany, she must know attempt at finding sanctuary in the little town in which she now lives in. For the most part, I actually really enjoyed the entire plot of the film and how it played out. There were just so many elements and emotions that were explored in the film that made this film even more interesting and sickening at the same time. Although I have not read the book, I can say that this story, based on the movie alone, seemed to be reliable enough. Though one thing I am sceptical about is the fact that they focused little on the whole "Book Thief" aspect. Like I said, this may be the same for the book but since I cannot confirm this, I still had to point it out. Overall, the over-bearing message and story that this film held was incredibly effective from beginning to end. 

Still of Geoffrey Rush and Sophie Nelisse

Easily one of the best things this film has going for it was the fact that the source material is more or less timeless. With The Book Thief having such a large fanbase surrounding it, it would be almost impossible for them to screw up this book-to-film adaptation. Luckily for them, they managed to not screw it up as the film managed to tug on all the right string at the right time. And truly, I do mean this as at the end of the film, I was almost about to cry. Anyhow, one of the things that managed to make me do this was for one what was happening on screen and two, the score. Originally I was not aware of this but John Williams is actually the composer for this film and when I listened to a tiny sample again, you really can tell as the score is just impeccable. John managed to place all the right songs in the right places and also managed to make it work for the situation and characters within that scene. To be honest, I myself am actually surprised I cared that much about the score initially upon exiting the theatre as there are only a select number of films where the score stays with me. But never in a million years would I have guessed that this film would have been one of those films. Another thing that I loved about this film was the script as there are just so many quotable lines, with most of them coming from the narrator. Easily one of my favourite lines from the film has to be the first line uttered in the film. This quote, in my opinion, was just so powerful as it actually more or less set up the entire movie which I always find interesting when movies do this kind of thing. 

Still of Ben Schnetzer and Sophie Nelisse

For a film that doesn't hold any well known actors besides Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson, it still manages to showcase some incredible acting talent. Let's start with our lead, Sophie Nelisse who I thought while good, though I could have pictured any young actress playing her. Though since I can't name any I would have preferred, I still think she was great in her role. As for Geoffrey Rush, what can I say that hasn't been said before? This man has won an Academy Award and will more than likely win even more as he is just one of Hollywood's greatest. Oh and he was good in the movie as well. As for Emily Watson, much like Sophie, I feel she could have been portrayed by anyone like her. Even with everything in the film, there was actually one stand out performance that many people may disagree with me on. And that is Ben Schnetzer as Max as I thought he played up the role almost perfectly. Maybe it was just his character that caught me, but I must say that I am surprised that he is not in more stuff, though because of this film, I am almost certain he will get more jobs as his career strives forward. Hopefully. 

Still of Emily Watson, Sophie Nelisse and
Nico Liersch

Overall, I found The Book Thief to be heart warming, heart breaking, funny, interesting and just overall a great movie. With great acting, music and an near endless amount of quotes, this film is more than worth a good watch. 

OVERALL: 7.910