underrated first half is pure Kubrick

Rating: Null/10 (24 November 1998)

One wonders what Kubrick was thinking here. This movie appears to be two totally unrelated films about Vietnam. The first half, starring Vincent D'Onofrio as an overweight misfit in basic training, is pure Kubrick, complete with his trademark "upward-angle" shots of D'Onofrio's face after he's been pushed completely over the edge by the rigors of training and confrontations with a truly nasty drill sergeant. The second half of the movie is a ho-hum depiction of a Vietnam sniper attack, with Matthew Modine as a low-level soldier running around on what is obviously a movie set. Why didn't Kubrick scrap the second half and lengthen the first? The characters were so interesting you wanted to see more of them. If he had done this, this movie would probably have been better than "Platoon" and a possible contender for Best Picture. What was Kubrick thinking by tacking on the totally unrelated second half? It's a shame, because this movie could have ranked up there with 2001, The Shining, and A Clockwork Orange. First half: 10 Second half: 3+ Go figure.