2001, 2 hrs 10 min., Rated R for strong graphic war violence and some sexuality.�Dir: Jean-Jacques Annaud. Cast: Jude Law (Vassily Zaitsev), Joseph Fiennes (Danilov), Rachel Weisz (Tania), Ed Harris (Major Koenig), Bob Hoskins (Krushchev), Ron Perlman (Koulikov), Gabriel Thomson (Sasha), Eva Mattes (Mrs. Filipov).

When I first heard of Enemy at the Gates last winter, several buzzwords about it had me jazzed beyond belief: WW2, snipers, Stalingrad, Russia vs. Germany (no U.S.!), Rachel Weisz, Ed Harris-Jude Law-Joseph Feinnes.

So while I thought this was a decent film and worth seeing, why aren't I jumping up and down demanding that you see it? Not sure, but I have a feeling the score may have something to do with it.

Extremely rarely do I subtract from the film for its score, but James Horner really needs to find another tune, because Enemy at the Gates is Braveheart which was Glory, which was innovative and inspiring. It still is, but I feel like Horner's still trying to build on that success. No, James, move on, please! Also, though, not his fault, but there were times when the score really should have been turned off.

There were times that would've been 10 times more tense if there was no music at all. Maybe Saving Private Ryan set the standard for this, but Horner's score felt out of place in such moments of tension where Law searches for Harris during a bombing raid. The only noise we need is natural, of breathing, running, bombing, et al.

It's a lot easier to say what's bad about a film than what's good, but let me attempt to convince you that Enemy at the Gates is worth a shot.

The battle scenes were kinetic and chaotic. The filmmaker definitely learned from Saving Pvt. Ryan in this regard. Expect to see many a bullet in the head, also, seeing as how this is a sniper flick.

Harris is meticulously cold and increasingly valuable, as I couldn't find a foothold to love Law or Feinnes. We just weren't given much background on either, as we're supposed to be rooting for these guys. Weisz is a beauty, and hey, she can act, too! Problem, though, was the insipid love triangle really only served to bring down the level of the film, when the audience would much rather see the Harris-Law relations than Law-Weisz-Feinnes.

As for other support, kudos to Bob Hoskins in his appearance as hard-liner Nikita Krushchev.

Based on a true story (of Jude Law�s character, I hope you already knew that Stalingrad actually happened), the War is Hell message beats us into submission during Enemy of the Gates, as you start to wonder if it's a good thing that the Communist Russians win at Stalingrad, or would they be just as well with the fascist Third Reich, who are shown to be worse in that they execute civilians, whereas the Russians only put bullets in their own soldiers. Having been to the traveling exhibit "WW II Through Russian Eyes," I know of the horrors that the Russian people went through, losing 27 million people to the war, but the cruelty of their own government is not something to brag about, either.

The verdict: -- Worth a shot.

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