After receiving mostly rave postings from friends who saw the film when it first reached selective screens, I looked forward to this story based on a true but rarely heard of heroic escape of a mass of Jews who existed on sheer chutzpah in an Eastern European forest in the early 1940s.

Headed by the Bielski brothers and, at first, a small group of Jews, they flee immanent death at the hands of the Germans, head for the vast Belarus forest and, as more Jews follow, learn how to survive. An intellectual becomes proficient at carpentry; a Rabbi does more than just heal the spirits. Meanwhile, one of the Bielski brothers (Live Schreiber) joins Russian forces against the Germans, while another (Daniel Craig) learns how to lead their group with courage he never knew he had, while a third brother (Jamie Bell) discovers love and marriage. They argue as they struggle for survival, facing fall, winter and spring with cruel hardships of every sort, besides the harsh elements, quibbling among themselves, fleeing German bombers and search parties and suspicious Russian military - and yet, as we are told at the end, over a thousand of them miraculously survived.

It's a tale of courage over tremendous odds, of endurance and living for the sheer will of it - polished and professionally developed. But it falls short as an entertainment for general audiences - pointedly contrived by Clayton Frohman and director Edward Zwick, it rumbles with exaggerated set pieces that are dramatically overblown and border on the stereotypical rather than being unique. Only the envelope of Jewish customs and traits retains a kind of fascination.

One is reminded of the professionally produced films by many religious organizations - simplifying and edifying stories from their esoteric perspectives - honestly made as propaganda in the guise of dramatic entertainment, but dedicated to a higher purpose. And there's the problem. Whereas the best films of this kind - "Exodus," "Life is Beautiful," "Schindler's List" - are made to entertain while they educate, this movie's aim is to educate while it hopes to entertain. The propaganda aura is transparently evident. It deserves an A for motivation and effort, but less as a 140-minute cinematic experience.