Stay On The Boat

Rating: 7/10 (6 October 2003)

Tortuous anti-war epic that ultimately disappoints despite the fantastic cinematography and superb overall production. The performances by Robert Duvall (who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor) and Marlon Brando, meant to be highlights, only reduce the picture's gritty realism and lose the viewer's interest with overly dramatized performances and, with Brando, at times unintelligible dialogue.
What saves the film, and makes it great, is the narrated journey of Captain Willard up the Mekong and into the dark reaches of Indo-China. Martin Sheen gives a tremendous performance as the super-serious unofficial operative Willard whose mission is to seek out the mutinous Colonel Kurtz (Brando), creator of a dysfunctional Shangri-La deep in the jungle. Plenty of action and more than one bizarre sojourn (particularly in the less edited Redux version) greet Willard and his riverboat crew of war movie personalities--wonderfully performed by all including a very young Laurence Fishburne as the gunner's mate, "Mr. Clean."
Together they traverse through all the ironies and confusing realities of warfare and keep you on the edge of your seat. Once on land, however, the movie bogs down into a badly scripted climax between Willard and Kurtz.
Definitely worth watching only give yourself enough time to appreciate the pacing and by all means, don't worry if you never see the end!