war is hell

Rating: 10/10 (20 November 2006)

War is hell, but boot camp is worse. At least that's the impression I got from watching "Full Metal Jacket," Stanley Kubrick's second anti-war classic in thirty years (the first was 1957's "Paths of Glory.") Since it's based on fact, "Full Metal Jacket" is not as mind-bending as "2001: A Space Odyssey" or "The Shining," but it has all of Kubrick's visual trademarks: harsh, bright lighting; cold, impersonal settings; and lots of whites, reds, and golds. Like the other movies, it deals with ordinary Americans seeking to survive in a hostile environment: first, boot camp, run by a psycho drill instructor (R. Lee Ermey), then urban warfare in Hue City, where they must contend with both the Viet Cong and their own superiors. The boot camp sequence is the best part of the movie: Ermey's sergeant character is clearly out of control, but he's not really a bad guy: he's just doing his job, trying to teach the recruits the skills they will need if they're going to survive in Vietnam. To see Vincent D'Onofrio as the slug-like "Gomer Pyle," then see him in his present role as Detective Robert Goran in "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" is to see just how much this amazing actor has grown. Matthew Modine's Joker is the voice of reason and the story's anchor. The combat scenes are horrifying, but the movie ends on an oddly upbeat note, the troops singing the "Mickey Mouse Club" theme song as they pull out of Hue. Add a killer soundtrack of 60s rock and roll and a hilarious cameo by Papillon Soo Soo as a consumptive Vietnamese hooker, and you've got a winner. Maybe not as good as "Saving Private Ryan," but still a great war film.