Tough Eastwood

Rating: 7/10 (15 November 2008)

Recap: Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Highway seems to find himself in constant trouble both with military superiors and civil law. But he is also a highly decorated war veteran and generally the meanest, toughest ... you can find around. As a last chance before retirement he is assigned to a run down platoon of Recon Marines. His task is, against their will, put the platoon into shape and combat efficiency (and lead them in the invasion of Grenada). At the same time he prepares for retirement and life outside the military, not an easy task for a career soldier.
Comments: Most of it is a mean and tough Eastwood, fighting hiss will through with sheer determination and muscle. Not too much depth and introspection, but still very entertaining and his style fits the movie very well.
So, what you get is a lot of determination, testosterone, muscle, guns and at the end a little history in the invasion of Grenada. There is the subplot of his attempts to adapt to a civilian life, mostly by trying to get his ex-wife back. It has definitely a role to fill but is a minor on. Highway, and the movie, is still very much military. Don't expect anything else, or you will be disappointed.
Eastwood dominates this movie very much, both in acting and directing. There is total focus on his character and it is only Mario van Peebles with his wannabe rocker Corporal Jones that get sufficient screen time to really do an impression. van Peebles to me, rarely is the mark of a quality movie, but here he is very good for this character Stitch Jones. But both he and Highway is very one-dimensional and would benefit from some depth.
However, with the movie running over two hours I can't see how there would be room for any such development. It was probably a very wise decision by director Eastwood to cut most of that. The result is a very entertaining (yes very gung-ho - but that can be entertaining) military and war movie, set in a little unusual time (not WWII or Vietnam).
7/10