Tonight’s movie: Enemy at the Gates

One of the most important and painful battles in World War II was the Nazi assault on Stalingrad. The Nazis had won essentially every land battle up to that point but ran into the monster Russian winter and the ability of the Soviets to throw almost unlimited number of solder/cannon fodder at them. In Enemy at the Gates, we see a small part of that story as good comrade Jude Law matches his farm-bred sniper skills against Nazi master marksman Ed Harris. Throw in a love triangle with Law up against Communist Party political office Joespeh Fiennes for Rachel Weisz that ties in to the main plot. The end is predictable if you remember your history, but since we are so focused on the characters, well written and directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, that their individual fates keep us involved right up until the hokey epilog.