straightforward war pic and damn proud (and good) of it

Rating: 8/10 (2 February 2009)

For anyone thinking of checking out John Wayne's the Green Berets... don't. Instead, go to Heartbreak Ridge. You might ask if it will have the same kind of action, since one is Grenada (where it took all of about a day or two, give or take a few minutes) and the other is Vietnam (which, you know the story). Doesn't really matter, since it all comes down to taste and execution. Perhaps if you're a hardcore John Wayne fan you'll dig that piece of military propaganda, but even casual Clint Eastwood fans will find something enjoyable about Heartbreak Ridge, which embraces the Marines while also taking a good long snap at bureaucratic BS and people who get in the way of someone who is perpetually a hard-ass who gets everything right in his place. Or, to put it another way, Ridge provides us with the Dirty Harry of the Marine corp, which is enough to make it something interesting on its own.
Why the comparison anyway? Because they're two examples of gung-ho military Americana made for the masses. But, and this is the biggest but, Eastwood is the more confident filmmaker and star, and with his film as a star vehicle as well as straightforward Recon-man-whips-men-into-shape-for-battle story he takes charge with plenty of good, witty lines and a sense of camaraderie with the male characters. Hightower is Eastwood's character, someone who must have been somewhat easy to play but also a lot of fun, the only real conflict for him coming in trying to recconect with his former girl (Mason) and in rubbing up against the even harder-ass Major. Around Hightower are a cast of near-classic misfits and complainers- chief among them the "Ayatollah of Rock-and-rolla" played with total glee by Mario Van Peebles in one of his best roles- and off they go in getting ready for a battle which takes place so quickly it fits just neatly (and awesomely) enough into the last half hour of the film.
It's a given to see much of Eastwood's style as no nonsense. The most we get from Eastwood trying to "show-off" as it were would be a tracking shot following two guys, or maybe a close-up or too. It's so unfussy that one almost wishes Eastwood might try something that might POP off the screen or give the final battle something to chew on. But it is what it is and it's great to see it that way, since the technique doesn't change what's already worth while in the script. While the story itself isn't without a couple of flaws- the romantic relationship subplot doesn't really work well past the "hey, we have problems that go way back... and it starts to get better just because it's convenient to the plot" deal- anything with Eastwood barking and quipping lines at and with his men, just some of Eastwood's classic facial expressions we know and have seen many times, make Heartbreak Ridge a fine achievement for him.
It's not as devastating a portrait of the marines as say Full Metal Jacket or Jarhead, but it doesn't need to be. For Eastwood this is a chance to make a Clint Eastwood picture out of the marine corp, and it's very entertaining to see him do when it's at its best. And, unlike the Green Berets, it doesn't paint *way* unrealistically what it's like to go into the "LZ". In fact, there may be a few watching who might want to join up just because someone like Clint may be a Recon leader. Crazy to say? Just watch.