I watched the original Danish version of this film some time ago. Connie Neilsen was stunning as the wife, Nikolas Lie Kaaj was good as the brother, and Ulrich Thomsen fitted the role of the Captain like a glove - mature, grave and, upon his return, with a sense of foreboding. In this remake, Natalie Portman is superb, while Jake Gyllenhaal, Sam Shepard and the 2 kids are all excellent. But Tobey Maguire is no Ulrich Thomsen. It's not that he's a bad actor, it's just that casting him as Captain Cahill of the Marines was akin to picking Russell Crowe to play Rudolph Nureyev in the film version of "Swan Lake".
The other aspect in which seeing the Danish version first somewhat spoiled the remake was that a number of scenes were changed, some in only minor ways, but none for the better - the killing, the rescue, the post-rescue de-briefing and counselling (omitted here), the visit of the Captain to the private's wife and son. Most of all, in the Danish film, the whole movie was geared towards the revelations at the end, and when they came, they were emotional and powerful. In this film, it seems as though the producers ran out of time, or out of money, or out of interest. "I killed him." That's it. The End. Major disappointment.
Pity, because it was quite a good story and quite a good film. I'd have given it 7, but that ending dumped it down to 5.
The other aspect in which seeing the Danish version first somewhat spoiled the remake was that a number of scenes were changed, some in only minor ways, but none for the better - the killing, the rescue, the post-rescue de-briefing and counselling (omitted here), the visit of the Captain to the private's wife and son. Most of all, in the Danish film, the whole movie was geared towards the revelations at the end, and when they came, they were emotional and powerful. In this film, it seems as though the producers ran out of time, or out of money, or out of interest. "I killed him." That's it. The End. Major disappointment.
Pity, because it was quite a good story and quite a good film. I'd have given it 7, but that ending dumped it down to 5.