Edward Zwick’s ‘Defiance’ Drains Strength From Powerful True Story

CHICAGO – Ed Zwick’s “Defiance” is a dramatically inert film that misses the mark by allowing its director to play up his notable weaknesses as a filmmaker. Neither satisfying as the action-driven entertainment that Zwick likes to make nor as an emotional historical epic, “Defiance” is flat and dull, only mildly redeemed by two strong lead performances and the inherent power of its subject matter.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

Zwick continues his pattern of falling back on the crutches of the typical action movie - slow motion, rising strings, bombastic explosions, melodramatic monologues - but, once again, he uses them to hold up a plot with inherent dramatic power, thinking that the importance of his subject matter will give his film a weight that he can not. “Blood Diamond,” “The Siege,” “The Last Samurai” - Zwick values epic scope over all else and misses what needed to be a human story to be effective.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Defiance” in our reviews section.

Only his work with his lead actors, his true strength proven by Oscar wins and nominations he directed his stars to in films like “Glory,” “The Last Samurai,” and “Blood Diamond,” saves “Defiance” from being a complete disaster. “Defiance” is a so-so action movie and just because it’s subject matter is about truly heroic people facing unspeakable horrors doesn’t change the quality of the filmmaking.

“Defiance” tells the true story of the Bielski brothers, led by the reluctant Tuvia (Daniel Craig) and the powerful Zus (Liev Schreiber). Tuvia and Zus are joined by their younger brother Asael, who follows their every move but is sometimes caught between the more proactive Zus and the more reactive Tuvia.

Continue reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Defiance” review.

Daniel Craig as “Tuvia Bielski” and Liev Schreiber as “Zus Bielski” star in Defiance.
Photo credit: Karen Ballard