It's difficult to see history behind all the explosions in '5 Days of War'

Renny Harlin has never been one for subtlety.

The action director is known for such kill-'em-all films as Die Hard 2, A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 and Cliffhanger. So it's no shock that he brings the same sort of comic-book bravado to his take on a very serious moment in recent history: the Russian incursion into the country of Georgia three years ago.

But Harlin's stock, good guys-bad guys approach to the material doesn't begin to do it justice.

A rather lackluster Rupert Friend is Thomas Anders, a freelance TV journalist fresh from the hell of Iraq whose girlfriend (Heather Graham in a cameo) was killed there. He's lured to Georgia by his old correspondent friend Dutchman (Val Kilmer) -- you know he's supposed to be a colorful character because he goes by one name. Anders reunites with his gung-ho cameraman, Sebastian Ganz (Richard Coyle), and looks for a way to get at the story.

They get their chance while attending a wedding in a local village. The Russians invade, sending our dynamic duo on the run with a ragtag band of locals, including Tatia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), a potential love interest for Thomas. They end up secretly taping a unit of Russian soldiers -- under the command of the villainous, cold-eyed Daniil (Mikko Nousiainen) -- committing atrocities, and vow to get the footage to what seems to be an uncaring West.

When the Russians find out they've been caught on Georgia's Most Horrifying Home Videos, it becomes a cat-and-mouse game as they chase our heroes across the countryside.

Simultaneously, Georgian President Saakashvili (a stiff Andy Garcia) and an aide (Dean Cain) are debating how to best get word out about what's going on.

Yet it's hard to care much about any of this, as everyone is a stock character in a very predictable, one-dimensional script (by Mikko Alanne and David Battle) that climaxes in a frenzy of coincidences and unbelievable lucky breaks.

Still, Harlin knows how to stage an action scene; the wedding-turned-killing field near the start of the film is beautifully shot.

He must have had access to the entire Georgian army (the movie was filmed in that country's capital, Tbilisi) judging from the amount of helicopters, tanks and weaponry at his disposal.

But 5 Days of War's final, pre-credits moments -- when actual Georgian victims of Russian violence simply tell their stories -- are much more effective than all the noise and commotion that precede them.

Yes, Mr. Harlin, sometimes less is far, far more.

Exclusive: Landmark Inwood, Dallas

Cary Darling, 817-390-7571