An unfocused trip

Rating: 6/10 (14 May 2015)

It took me a bit to nail down the reason for my less-than-fawning reaction to "Apocalypse Now" - after all, this movie's so damn revered - but, surprisingly, it's Martin Sheen's voyage up-river (which is really the bulk of the movie). I'm surprised as anyone, seeing as I generally dig his stuff. But his journey into Cambodia just tends to meander through the film. Sure, there are firefights mixed in, but none of this is ever as exciting or mysterious as the film's two most winning features: Robert Duvall and Marlon Brando. And they're only present for such a short time. Duvall is just such a larger than life sociopath; it doesn't hurt that he's at the forefront of the movie's wildest set piece, but he owns the screen. I'm fairly certain the man's ruined "Ride of the Valkyries" for me (hijacked, not soured). And Brando looms so large over the entire movie that, you're left wondering what kind of answers are coming when Sheen finally tracks him down. And it's a hallucinatory payoff, to be sure.
6/10