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'Defiance' lacks raw courage
Published online on Sunday, May. 31, 2009
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"Defiance" Grade C: All the expected ingredients are here in this tale of Jewish freedom fighters in Eastern Europe battling Nazi Germany: a couple of love interests, sibling rivalries, near-mutiny among the ranks, diseases running rampant, brutal winters, a traditional Jewish wedding with the bride and groom in raised chairs.
Through it all, Daniel Craig's piercing blue eyes are like beacons pointing the way to Hollywood.
Overall, "Defiance" just sort of slogs through. It winds up more like a handsomely produced history lesson rather than a harrowing tale of human courage and survival.
"Army Wives: The Complete Second Season" Grade B: The "Desperate Housewives" have nothing on these women (and one man).
The cable series offers an often touching look at the lives of military families.
The show resonates with a very human quality whether it's dealing with something as simple as a promotion or as monumental as death.
It works because of the first-rate cast that includes Kim Delaney and Catherine Bell.
"Prison Break: Season 4, The Final Season" Grade C-: This season is the slow, painful death of what started out an amazing bit of television.
It went from a smart story of a prison escape to a cheesy spy thriller.
Instead of clever stories, the writers kept twisting the plot until it was impossible to know who was good and who was bad. But it really didn't matter as the show had lost its magic.
It wasn't fair to put stars Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell through such cruel and unusual writing.
The reporters can be reached at dmunro@fresnobee.com or rbentley@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6355.
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