An enjoyable film, if not entirely realistic

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2007)

First of all, I think most of the people complaining about how a woman could never be a SEAL, or how the training is unrealistic, are not even in the military. So that pretty much discounts anything they have to say. If you've never been through it yourself, who are you to say who can and cannot do it? Moving on...
I thought this enjoyable, Demi Moore is very convincing as she buffed herself up for this role and is pretty amazing to watch doing those one-armed push-ups and sit-ups. The hard work she put into getting into shape really shows, and I commend her for it.
Viggo Mortenson reminded me of a Drill Sergeant I had, the way he had an underlying humor but was still tough as nails. Mortenson was also very fit, though kind of skinny, but he also did a rather good job. I was especially happy to see the way he thought of Jordan as just one of the team, as shown when he makes one trainee pay for leaving her behind.
Anne Bancroft is wonderfully evil. That's pretty much all there is to say. She epitomizes what a corrupt politician is.
Now, onto the subject of Jordan's "sex change". I disagree with those who say the movie should not have called for her to shave her head. I realize her motivation for doing it seemed to be so she would fit in better, but for practical reasons, she should've shaved it anyway. It was laughable to see her going through PT and having her long flowing down her shoulders. Having one strand out of my bun would've warranted me a good 50 push-ups...this is SEAL training, it wouldn't be tolerated. So I think shaving her head was a good thing to put in.
It does seem she loses a lot of her femininity throughout the movie, but while it may not be a good thing, it's a realistic thing. How many women could go through what she went through but come out still as a girly girl who wears cute dresses and has her hair nice and long? ZERO. In order to really become a team, she became one of them. It happens even in today's military.
I'm no expert on SEALS training, but there are some things I find rather odd.
(1) This free time they have to go in and shower quietly by themselves! At BCT, there were 15 girls in a shower and we had 5 minutes to get done and get back in formation. My training was nowhere NEAR what the SEALS go through, so I doubt they'd have any easier time.
(2) The time Jordan had to work out on her own. For one thing, where'd she get all that time anyway? And another, the human body NEEDS TO SLEEP. She would be too exhausted to push herself so far in the few moments she had off. Stress fractures and severe fatigue would most certainly set in.
Those are my only real complaints, everything is--as far as I know--rather well-displayed. The live fire exercises brought back a couple memories of my own, as well as running around with a boat over their heads (though in my case it was a log). Like I said though, I'm not a SEAL, so if one comes up to me and tells me the movie was completely wrong...I'll believe them! Now for the big question...could women be SEALS? Or even in combat at all? I don't know about SEALS, I just don't have enough information to say...their training is very secretive, you don't know anything till you're there. So the only people who would know if women could make it or not are--well, no one.
Now in combat, yes, they can. And they should. But with that responsibility, comes more pressure. If women were to be allowed in the infantry, then they should meet the same standards as the men, not have them lowered so it's easier. That includes a 25 mile ruck march, and all the PT standards in the test. You want to be one of the best, you have to earn it. It's not impossible. I've seen women who run faster and do more push-ups than a lot of guys, I'm one of them.
It's been proved time and time again that women can function in combat, so that's not a valid argument. But a big problem that comes up (and is mentioned in the movie) is that men will automatically try to save the woman. I agree. But do I think women should be punished because of that? No. Just because some (I emphasize SOME) men can't deal with it doesn't mean the military should discriminate against women, it just means those men shouldn't be in the combat either. A woman's life is no more valuable than a man's, and it's old-fashioned and ridiculous that some men still hold to a different view than that.
Well, there's my review. All in all, I think the movie was good, so I gave it a 6, it's definitely worth seeing...if you go into it with an open mind and don't listen to those who don't know what they're talking about.