There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I admit, when I first viewed this movie (Under the American title "Hearts of War")I didn't think much of it. While I love forbidden romances and find the happenings of WWII fascinating, I thought the plot moved too quickly for my liking. For instance, I would've liked for Oskar and Rachel's relationship to blossom a bit; it just all felt very rushed. But I recently watched it again and came to appreciate it and even classify it as one of my favorites. The wilds of Ontario is convincing as Polish countryside and I appreciate that the actors use real accents as opposed to American/Canadian ones (see "Valkyrie"). That bugs me; the films always lose something without the proper accents. All in all, Oskar and Rachel's love set against the backdrop of the Nazi invasion of Poland kept me riveted. I was surprise the baby was killed; children usually survive movies like this. The only real complaint I have is the ending. What happened?! Did they get out? And how?

The Poet is a drama film starring Colm Feore, Roy Scheider, Kim Coates and Daryl Hannah. It was written by Jack Crystal and directed by Damian Lee. It was released in the United States as Hearts of War.At the dawn of World War II, a rabbi's daughter and a disenchanted German soldier fall in love and are separated by the war. They struggle on a perilous journey to find one another.A young German officer and the daughter of a Rabbi find their blooming relationship threatened by the onset of World War II in director Damian Lee's emotional war romance. The setting is German occupied Poland, and Europe is finally feeling the full devastation of Hitler's might. German Officer Oskar and his Jewish girlfriend Rachel are deeply in love, but tragically torn apart by the violent village massacres that spread like a plague across the land. Convinced that she will never be reunited with her true love, expectant mother Rachel reluctantly marries respectable Jewish man Bernard, who longs to earn her love by raising her child as his own. Later, when Rachel and Oskar unexpectedly cross paths amidst the violence of the Russian front line, a sudden tragedy prompts one man to make the ultimate sacrifice.This account of the World War II star-crossed love between a rabbi's daughter and a war-hating officer wants very much to be taken seriously. Unfortunately,this proves impossible, since the script, casting and wartime atmosphere play as pure make-believe.Also,the audience is herded from cliché to unintentional farce to insult-to-its-intelligence movie that should have been thought carefully before made.

If people in Poland during WWII are offered asylum by transport to Canada instead of Sweden or Switzerland, you know you're in for trouble. The plot had gigantic holes in it. Manslaughter gets no penalty, People make social visits to soldiers at the front unannounced, a bloody face becomes perfect in the next scene. Nine months pass and there is no change in season, yet the day after a blizzard, there is no snow on the ground.The leading female character was written either so unrealistically or just as a tramp, it was really unbelievable. Giving examples would be spoilers.I think Darryl Hannah and Roy Scheider may not have been doing great movies, but even they had to be embarrassed to be in this one. It's a good thing I saw it for free.

I found this movie on DVD at Blockbuster under the above title. I was very disappointed. It was unrealistic and the plot full of holes. The German accents were almost annoying and even hard to understand. The only redeeming quality of this movie was Roy Scheider as the rabbi. At least he seemed believable. Whoever came up with the script should have watched a good Holocaust movie like Schindler's List first before subjecting the public to this mediocre stuff. Darryl Hannah talents were wasted in this film, plus she didn't seem old enough to have a grown (twenty-something) son. Forget about watching The Poet, aka Hearts of War!!!