A Very Fine Film

Rating: 8/10 (21 March 2008)

In the same way that time had to move on in order that considered films on the Vietnam War could be made, so time sometimes needs to move on to provide a perspective on those films themselves.In the early 21st century America finds itself in another hopeless adventure abroad, in Iraq, with young men killing and being killed with no-one quite sure why.With the passage of time this story assumes a depth and resonance that wasn't possible at the time.
De Palma's strength is in how he portrays people, and this is a veritable tour de force in this respect.Sean Penn is about the finest actor of his generation, and his Sgt Meserve is superb.Brutal and loyal, yet cruel and amoral. Just what the Army needs in a battle, but not the sort of person that the Capitol Hill aesthetes would welcome for dinner.
Michael J Fox carries the part of the effete whistle blower well, his hair is always as nicely washed and clean as his morals, yet in the crucial court martial scene, it is hard to work up any enthusiasm for his actions.Cleverly, De Palma runs two parallel belief sets here. On the one hand, kidnapping, raping and murdering farm girls is not right. Equally when you train young men to kill, and risk their lives day on day, when they see their friends killed and mutilated, when all vestiges of their home life are stripped away in an alien jungle, nobody should be too surprised that some will get up to no good.
Ultimately this is the triumph of the film. The casualties are literally everywhere.I felt as much for the convicted soldiers as I did for their victim.The chaos of the battle scenes where all you have is your buddies is well played. The loyalty, bravery, Stoicism and heroism of the doomed patrol are shown as vividly as the amorality of their actions.
A worthy synthesis of excellent battle set pieces and cerebral soul searching.