Hart's War (2002)

Plot:  Tommy Hart is a recently arrived POW in a Nazi prison camp. A former law student, he defends a black prisoner on murder charges when a racist

News:

22 January, 2002

The official website is up and running and it has plenty of stills and the trailer available.

29 March, 2001

That sneaky devil Stax got his hands on the movie's script for a review.

Hart’s War is an engrossing and poignant tale about duty and justice in the face of war and prejudice. This draft was one part legal thriller and one part war story. Upcoming Movies aptly described this project as “A Soldier’s Story meets Stalag 17”. It could also be chided as John Grisham Presents Hogan’s Heroes or as A Few Good Men in Prison (hey, don’t read into that last title). The first half of Billy Ray’s (no achy-breaky jokes!) script effectively establishes the POWs’ way of life and the politics of the camp. The murder was the script’s mid-point with the latter half being more of an outright suspense tale as the untried lawyer-hero defends his noble client against a conspiracy while also coming to grips with a few secrets of his own.

Overall, this draft of Hart’s War was a well-told tale about sacrifice, redemption, honor, and duty. Ultimately, the story didn’t just focus on the narrower but certainly heartfelt issue of racial injustice in the U.S. military during World War II, even though that’s what preoccupied its central characters Hart and Scott. Instead, during its homestretch, Hart’s War smartly evolved into a more colorblind story about what unites soldiers rather than what divides them. It ponders a question, the context of which I’ll leave tantalizingly vague, that Star Trek fans will appreciate: do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one? The answer to this moral quandary made Hart’s War a rewarding and gripping experience. – STAX

You can read the entire review here

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27 November, 2000

Vicellous Shannon (The Hurricane) has joined the cast. He will be playing Lamar Archar, a man framed for murder.

10 October, 2000

Colin Farrell (Tigerland) has taken Norton's role in the movie. Bruce Willis has also signed on to the project in the part of a captured American commander. Finally, Anthony Hopkins is considering taking the part of the Nazi commandant commanding the POW camp.

28 September, 2000

Edward Norton has dropped out of this project over creative differences.

3 August, 2000

Edward Norton and Gregory Hoblit will reteam to adpat John Katzenbach's World War II novel Hart's War to the big screen. The two previously worked together to make Primal Fear, which earned Norton an Acadamy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Norton would play American POW Tommy Hart. A former law student, Hart defends a black prisoner against accusations that he murdered another prisoner, one who is suspected of killing the only other black prisoner. The Germans are fascinated by the case which provide a distraction for prisoners to escape. Katzenbach's novel was based on events in the life of his father, former US attorney general Nicholas Katzenbach.

MGM president Michael Nathanson said, "This has the potential to be 'A Few Good Men' meets 'The Great Escape,' and the idea of reteaming Edward and Greg Hoblit in a story that has so many elements of truth was just an unbelievable opportunity for us."

Billy Ray (Stuart Little) is currently in the process of rewriting the original script by Terry George. Shooting will begin in January in Prague.