I can't say I don't have time but I am sooooo disorganised!
I can't say I don't have time but I am sooooo disorganised!
Member since:08.12.2005
Reviews:99
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The film begins with some historical clips of wars in recent history. This makes perfectly clear the theme of the film, but also allows you a little time to think of your own ideas on what the film might be about. This was, for me, the first film of its kind that I had watched, so my ideas were mostly wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed it, though, & watched it again, twice. Now it has come onto television again, so I decided to give it a go for a review.
Story
In the middle of a battle involving huge tanks, Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling gives the order to fire at a tanker that turns out to be friendly. A tape has recorded exactly what was said in that tank that night, revealing the truth about what happened, but the army seems determined to keep it covered up. Burdened, not only with the task of informing the families of the dead, but with the guilt of feeling that this was his fault, he returns home, suffering terrible nightmares & acting strange around his young family. Worse still, he develops a drinking problem. He is moved away from the action & a new assignment is then found for him…
A posthumous medal of honour is being considered by the Whitehouse for a commander, killed during conflict. A number of soldiers on the ground survived the battle, they believe, because of the helicopter that the commander was in. The matter is given further attention as it is the first female, Captain Karen Walden (Meg Ryan) to be nominated for such an award for her participation in conflict - 'courage under fire'. Serling is brought in to conduct an inquiry on the award. Consequently he finds himself investigating what really happened on the day she was killed. At first the story seems quite vague, with little information, but as he investigates further, he
learns that something much more sinister had occurred on that day, which he must get to the bottom of.
The angle of the film is very interesting, because it looks at the contradictory nature of war, the general idea of glory, fighting for one's country & receiving those shining medals then the irony of a person achieving all these things, but at the cost of that persons own life. The more significant thing in this film, however, is that the award itself is nothing to Serling, in comparison to the importance of the truth. In a way this is directly related to whether or not she deserved the award, but when the people he talks to about that day seem to have different accounts of what really happened, it is as though the matter (& Serling) cannot rest until everything is uncovered - like reaching justice.
Army culture has been given a reputation for being quite backward when it comes to its treatment of women, but in some ways, this film still appears a little exaggerated in that sense to begin with. For instance, one soldier claims that Walden cried at a point where there was really nothing for her to cry about, as well as making her appear ridiculously helpless. To me that just sounded silly - that anyone would even make such an accusation about a person clearly trained to do their job who is in charge is laughable. There are other reasons for these comments that can be sensed by the defensiveness of that soldier, but at first it really seems to be about Walden being too 'feminine' to handle the work. At the same time, it was nice to see that this film at least attempts to deal with gender issues.
Acting
Denzel Washington was Sterling. His performance was very real, but he always seems to have that same pained expression on his face (probably why he got the part), which can get a little irritating after a while. Anyway, he is a great actor & amongst my favourites in spite of this. My only criticism is that when he was playing the torn up, guilty soldier who turns to alcohol & changes his behaviour, the most obvious way to tell was that he daydreamed at the dinner table. Surely more could have been done to reflect how it affected his family? Admittedly this is not all his fault, but I did expect a bit more.
Captain Karen Walden is played by Meg Ryan. I have not seen many of her films & had definitely not seen her in a role like this one before, so I found it quite interesting. As the story is pieced together, snippets from the day of her death are shown, increasing in detail but also reflecting different witness accounts, as the though the witnesses are narrating their own story. She matched the witness descriptions given throughout the film, so in my opinion that made her a good actress for this film.
Matt Damon & Lou Diamond Phillips play the soldiers who were part of Walden's team in the helicopter. Both I think are quite excellent actors & performed really well in this film. It is a shame that Phillips comes into the film (as 'present day' character) quite the way through the film, as I think it would have been nice to see his character build up a bit more from the beginning. All the same, I was not disappointed by their acting.
Film Qualities
The scenes of Captain Walden's last day are shown several times in the film, plus Serling's regretful tanker battle & his flashbacks/nightmares of the incident. There are lots of explosions & shootings. These are done quite effectively, but it is hard to imagine how realistic they are. There is also the helicopter, which crash-lands. To me, this looks quite impressive. The film alternates between the 'present day' for Serling & the memories of the two incidents, so the action continues throughout the film, which will keep some people from dozing off early on. The scenes are very lively, even the night battle with the tankers. There is not really an opportunity to take in the landscape scenery from the helicopter scenes, because the action is so fast moving & the scenes change quickly. It can also be hard to follow what is happening because of this.
Music is used sparingly in this film, as touching piano pieces & moving strings. It is purely there to add drama & let you know when there is one of those moments where you stop & think about what you have seen happening in the film. They are purposeful, hardly memorable but good at the same time, hence I rate them 'average' rather than 'unmemorable'.
The film has been classified as a 15, which I think is absolutely right. Although it contains high levels of violence throughout the film, I would not say that it condones violence as such. This is a war film so it has to be expected, plus the actual story shows the mental strain on the soldiers, for example Serling's nightmares, caused by their experiences at war. There is swearing, but not to any excess level. The film is clean & seems to deal with moral issues fairly well, although of course this depends on your own moral perceptions, in my opinion most people would not find anything too offensive in this film.
Conclusion
This is one of those films I was glad to have seen. I still found it quite gripping the second time I saw the film. For me, the acting was brilliant, the special effects were of a good standard & the story itself was interesting & at times moving. This film has come on TV a few times & is likely to come on again, so if you get the chance to catch it on telly, then I'd strongly recommend you take it. I probably would have rented the film had it not come onto television again, but whether you prefer to rent or buy DVDs is really going to depend on more than I can tell you. If you like this genre & the actors/.actresses in the film, you most likely will not regret it.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1957 - Drama - Director: Leo McCarey - Original Language: English - Classification: Universal - Starring: Cathleen Nesbitt, Deborah Kerr, Cary Grant, Richard Denning, Neva Patterson, Fortunio Bonanova
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
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Nov 14th, 2007
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