The Book Thief: apart from some specific elements (the intriguing choice of narrator chiefly among them), this story has been told many times before; usually better and more emotively. (Of course, originality is far from being a must, but freshness and telling a story well help making the experience more memorable.) Visually, it is well-done but not distinctive in any way. As far as acting goes, the focus is mostly in projecting a German accent rather than emotions, but Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson are solid enough performers that they are able to make more with their poorly design characters than was in the page.