A Memorial and A Lesson

Rating: 10/10 (27 January 2002)

As someone who read the book upon which this movie is based, I was intrigued by the pre-release criticism of so many reviewers. Everyone seemed to be dwelling on the fact that there wasn't enough character development. Watching the film, I began to understand what they meant because we really don't get enough time to know all of these characters they way we might like - such is life. As the movie progresses we do begin to see what kind of characters each one is. Some are jokers and some are fools. Some are pragmatic or stoic or romantic. The characters in this movie represent all soldiers. What we do see clearly in this movie is a small memorial to each of the men that died during the Battle of Mogadishu. The scene in which Sergeant First Class Randy Shugart and Master Sergeant Gary Gordon come the aid of downed pilot Mike Durant is reason enough to see this movie! Overdevelopment of any of the surviving characters might have overshadowed the most important lesson of the movie, that no man be left behind.