Emotional tribute to a man of principle

Rating: 9/10 (24 February 2017)

Not a dry eye in my house while I watched "Hacksaw Ridge" alone. Desmond T. Doss was previously unknown to me, yet he was the real deal. Made me want to see the documentary about him. Evidently, the movie downplays the true story rather than displaying the usual Hollywood exaggeration. Moral of the story: You know your objection to handling guns is principled when you are willing to march into battle without one. Doss only touched a rifle to use it as a splint or part of a makeshift travois. (No indication, though, that he knew to empty the weapon before so using it!)
The cast of this movie is terrific. Obviously Andrew Garfield in the starring role, but also Teresa Palmer is fine in the kind of role that usually gets thrown away in a war movie (the hero's wife). Hugo Weaving deserves every award he can get for his role as the father, Tom Doss. Vince Vaughn is uncharacteristically understated as Sergeant Howell - even while saying lines that would make R. Lee Ermey jealous.
Sorry to be so provincially and patronizingly amazed at how so many Australians do believable American accents, but the average American movie-goer is probably not going to notice how few of the actors in this movie are Americans. (Andrew Garfield was born in the U.S. but did not grow up here.)