While some might not find it in the best taste to have a light-hearted World War II story, “The Book Thief” fascinates the audience as a story about a little girl finding her voice through words in the midst of terror.

“The Book Thief” follows the story of adolescent Liesel Meminger (Sophie Nélisse) during Nazi Germany. After tragedy strikes her family, the kind and loving Hans Hubermann (Geoffrey Rush) and his strict but caring wife Rosa (Emily Watson) adopt her. Despite Liesel’s fast friendship with neighbor Rudy Steiner (Nico Liersch), her classmates tease her for being illiterate. Hans begins to teach her how to read “The Grave Digger’s Handbook”, the first of many books Liesel steals, and he immediately forms a bond with Liesel.

One night, the Hubermanns take in a Jewish man Max Vanderburg (Ben Schnetzer) who is close to death. Liesel discovers he shares her affinity for words. Confined to the basement, Max encourages her to use her words to describe the outside world to him. Here he discovers her potential to not only read, but to write as well. This triggers Liesel’s journey of finding her voice.

Given that the source of the film is the best-selling novel by Markus Zusak, it is not surprising to find the core plot of “The Book Thief” brilliant, full of complex characters and nuance. However, the book is just under 600 pages long and the film totals at 131 minutes, making it hard to fit in the depth of the material for director Brian Percival. It fails to explore some beyond surface level plot points.

This is especially evident with the relationship between Max and Liesel, which was reduced to a few sweet moments. Overall the movie makes it hard to understand the development of the friendship between the two.

Despite this, the portrayal of each character by the cast were impeccable. Most notably, Nélisse beautifully adds nuance and exemplifies the fear and uncertainty felt by the population in Nazi Germany. In addition, Watson and Rush’s performances add warmth and light-heartedness to the film.

Moviegoers who enjoy beautiful period settings, high quality acting, and witty humor within a heartbreaking drama will find “The Book Thief” an enchanting piece of fiction. However, fans of the book itself may find that few relationship or themes are fully realized outside of the scene to scene drama.

Nevertheless, “The Book Thief” is still a wonderful film and a very worthy adaptation of Markus Zusak’s novel that is likely to please all those who see it.