Meanwhile, Vassili and Danilov find their friendship tested when they both fall for the same woman, Tania (Rachel Weisz), a soldier who's asked to be reassigned to the fighting.

That latter subplot is surely the movie's weakest point and seems to be a concession on the part of filmmaker Jean-Jacques Annaud. If that isn't bad enough, it undercuts what to that point had been an entertaining concept, and it dominates the final third of the film.

"Enemy at the Gates" feels at least a half-hour too long, and its attempts to broach such subjects as hero worship and propaganda get lost as the love triangle is played up instead.

Then there are the many varied accents of the performers. While most of the Russian characters sound British (including Bob Hoskins, who is ludicrously over-the-top as Nikita Krushchev), the Germans sound American (though Harris does mute his natural New York accent).

Still, there are times when the duel between the characters played by Law and Harris makes it watchable, even though the conclusion is disappointing and seems inappropriate.

"Enemy at the Gates" is rated R for wartime violence (the bulk of it being sniper fire and bombings), graphic gore (some shown in close-up), scattered use of profanity, simulated sex, brief partial female nudity and use of ethnic slurs and crude slang terms. Running time: 131 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com