Crusty Clint is still not to be messed with.

Rating: 7/10 (7 April 2014)

One of Clint Eastwood's most accessible 80s movies, Heartbreak Ridge sees the gruff actor on very fine form, this even though the "war is hell" core that fills out the last quarter via a rather silly gun toting rescue mission in Grenada does lack conviction. The film wins its stripes courtesy of James Carabatsos' razor witty script and the sub plot involving ex wife Aggie (Marsha Mason). For all its macho posturing and training routine shenanigans (you will wish we could have stayed at boot camp once Grenada arrives), at its heart is a very tender movie about a man who can't let the career go, and simultaneously the wife (ex) who simply lived hell each day as her man was off at war (Korea/Vietnam et al).
That said, it's the comedy that has made the film one of the most quoted film's of big Clint's career. Be it Eastwood himself tossing off witty put downs to his rag tag band of men, or the likes of Mario Van Peebles hilariously looking like some punk version of Michael Jackson, there's a lot of fun to be had in every other frame. There's even a guy here whose thighs are bigger than Sly Stallone! So yes there's many stereotypes here, none more so than Everett McGill's fresh out of school prig Major Powers, and for sure the ending is never in any doubt what so ever. But get in line and enjoy the fun whilst noticing that it does have under the surface themes well worth time investment as well. 7/10