Standard 80s boot camp flick

Rating: 5/10 (22 January 2014)

What was it about the 1980s and films sets in boot camp? That is what I kept wondering to myself while watching Clint Eastwood's effort in the sub-genre "Heartbreak Ridge". I also wondered how much there really is to say about a pretty average film that doesn't attempt to say anything at all. Let us find out!
The opening credits feature military archive footage in black and white that slowly take us to a holding cell in the summer of 1983, featuring a jailed Eastwood telling stories to the other inmates about his time in the Marine Corp. It is during this sequence that the photography turns to color, and we to a present day mindset where Eastwood's Sgt. Highway is a washed up has been. The film's title is a reference to the military campaign during the Korean War where Highway tells one character he went to college, but as we find out later, is where he earned the Medal of Honor.
"Heartbreak Ridge" might be the first film where Eastwood acknowledges his age. Speaking in a gruffer snarl than we have heard from him in previous films, he seems to be settling into the 'wise old grump' personality that he would continue to develop for the rest of his career. Eastwood feels older than ever as he attempts to whip some ridiculously insubordinate Marines into shape before the invasion of Grenada, especially when he says to one of them, "Shut your face, hippie!"
The main problem with the film is that we spend too much time with Highway and the recruits in boot camp. At over two hours in length, the movie might have benefited if it cut out some of the subplots and shenanigans, which take up over half the film and rely on a sense of humor that feels extremely dated over twenty five years later. These scenes might have been more enjoyable if the supporting cast had been at least halfway decent. Instead, we have Mario Van Peebles as the main (i.e. most annoying) comic relief, and a cartoonish villain in the form of Everett McGill playing Eastwood's Commanding Officer. And a subplot involving Highway's ex-wife feels underdeveloped and leaves much to be desired.
So where does that leave us, exactly? While this may be THE film about the 1983 U.S. led invasion of Grenada (I can't think of any others), it disappears against a decade full of military training films dealing specifically with a boot camp setting. I promised myself I would not mention the king of this sub-genre that was released a year later, "Full Metal Jacket". While Kubrick's film certainly provides some chuckles with the delivery of the drill sergeant's insults, Eastwood's film depends on humor to get it through most of its running time, hardly any of it actually being funny. When it finally does get serious, it does not go all the way, and really ends up only being a film where Eastwood gets to act old and mean around a bunch of younger slobs in 80s attire.