Greenbelters Ask Is 'War Horse' Cardboard or Making a Statement

Following a Thai meal at in Greenbelt, and "War Horse" at Academy 8 Theaters on Friday, this week's movie reveiwers faced off on Facebook with a whirlwind of opinions.

Reviewing the movie for Patch were: Konrad Herling, Sheila Maffay-Tuthill, Anna Socrates and I was representing Patch.

This time instead of giving you four separate reviews, we're giving you review discussion in four parts. posted Monday. This is part two.

Brilliant Cinematography or The Same Old Same Old

Anna Socrates: Cinematography: Bailey you mentioned that Spielberg uses the same cameraman, Janusz Kaminski. Maybe that is why this film seemed so derivative. I feel like I've seen this film before — or shots from the film before.

Bailey Henneberg: Anna, maybe it was deliberately so. He contrasted the idyllic horse and countryside scenes with the horrors of war, which felt anything but Bambi-like.

Anna Socrates: Bailey, you have a point that the contrasts were very dramatic.

Sheila Maffay-Tuthill: It was beautifully shot but seemed enhanced somehow.

Konrad Herling: Well, at least we did not need to have 3-D glasses.

Anna Socrates: Konrad, that is a point. Much of Hugo was CGI and you wore the 3-D glasses, but somehow it felt more real. Maybe because the human characters were so complex and the acting wasn't taking a back seat to the effects.

What Went Wrong: The Acting or the Script?

Anna Socrates: Sheila, I agree that Albert and his family were a little hard to take — kind of cardboard.

Bailey Henneberg: Was it the acting or the script. The cardboard may have had to do with the lines they had to deliver?

Sheila Maffay-Tuthill: I think it was the acting and the tone.

Anna Socrates: I agree, the acting seemed bland except for grandpa.

Bailey Henneberg: I think it may be the script not the acting. Take for example the scene where the dad buys Joey. The little guy against the big guy, paying his rent money to get a horse. A poor person, drinking or not, would not risk all his work on a horse he couldn't use — to prove a point like that. Act as well as you want, it still feels contrived.

Konrad Herling: I disagree. It was his way of making a statement of someone who was fighing against the odds. Here was someone who was brave but was belittled by the pompous.

Anna Socrates: Bailey, that is a good point. I thought the opening premise was silly. And having it bookended by another auction at the end seemed very dumb — Ebay before computers.

Sheila Maffay-Tuthill: Bailey — good point. But better acting could have made it feel less like a farce.

SPOILER ALERT: Bailey Henneberg: And look at the last auction. Man's daughter dies, he gets her beloved horse, and gives it back to the boy who loved it and came to war for it. I mean could acting have improved the corniness? Sheila?

Konrad Herling: OK, on that point, I could agree it was too much.

Sheila Maffay-Tuthill: I bought that scene, Bailey, probably because grandpa felt sincere.

Anna Socrates: Bailey, couldn't have described that last bit better. I am sure it all read better in the book though.

Reviewers were working with different connection speeds, so the chat has been edited to keep conversation topics together. It has also been edited for grammar and trimmed.