From Start to Infinty

Rating: 4/10 (28 October 2007)

This movie does such a poor job of setting up its timeframe (It was made in '56.) that I thought it was taking place during the war, and I kept waiting for the "We're shipping out" storyline to kick in. I kept thinking, "some war movie... Where's the war?" Maybe there was a title that fixed the date, and I missed it. Maybe the book was so well known they thought a title card wasn't needed. Eventually, I thought the story must only be about the routine goings-on at a peacetime barracks. You can't blame me. Nobody ever mentions the war (!) and there really isn't much going on in the movie. Then at the last minute, the Japanese attack. Would you make a 2-plus hour movie that included Pearl Harbor and toss it away as a 4 minute sequence?
The concerns of three soldiers and two whores whose fates are torn asunder by the war are small potatoes; the very smallest way to tell a story about WW2. Foregrounding these trivial stories and pushing Pearl Harbor to the rear is positively bizarre. Lancaster is good, as is Clift, but every one of the plentiful "funny drunk" scenes in this is cringe-inducing and heinously acted. If you're going to be deep about about emotions, why not film the actual effects of alcoholism, instead of pretending drunks are charming? Ditto for annoying scenes of white people trying on black culture (blues music) in a bid for authenticity - just embarrassing. They Were Expendable also features a cringe-inducing, half-assed blues tune.
The story lines are trifling and not blended well. As Clift gets gunned down near the end, I'm asking, "that's your big ending? Deborah Kerr's "bad girl" is about as ridiculous as Tom Hanks bad guy (Road to Perdition)... you know a plot-point that excuses everything will be forthcoming, so a hopelessly wholesome actor can save face. Donna Reed as a hooker is another absurdity. Sinatra got an Oscar for playing this flimsy goof?