Fox's best dramatic role & Penn's vilest villain; One of the better morality tales on Vietnam

Rating: Null/10 (28 February 2003)

CASUALTIES OF WAR (1989) **** Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn, Thuy Thu Le, Don Harvey, John Leguizamo, John C. Reilly, Ving Rhames, Sam Robards. Searing and brutally profound morality play based on true events about a squad of American soldiers kidnapping and raping a Vietnamese girl and then cruelly murdering her. Fox is the one good man pitted against the vile Penn and facing all kinds of obstacles from doing the right thing. Hard to watch at times due to the frank content and heavy-handed direction from Brian De Palma but not to be missed for the performances by the principals. Look sharp for a cameo by future co-star of tv's `Northern Exposure' Darren E. Burrows as `Cherry' Dare you not to be moved by miss Le's execution. Not to be missed. Screenplay by David Rabe from an article by Daniel Lang in 1969's New Yorker.