Summercamp for grown ups

Rating: 4/10 (6 August 2006)

Take out the guns, and the desert, and this is a summercamp movie. If you want to see a movie about being lost. This is it. I'm pretty sure the director was lost also. And you'll definitively be lost when its over. Aside from the shots that were obviously "inspired" by other war movies, i didn't see much great cinematic moments in this film at all, and i fail to see how this will somehow become a "classic". This movie vaguely wanders from "war is hell" to "brotherhood" to whatever else it was trying to say, and never delves fully into anything. And i don't feel it touched the "war is hell" subject out of any honest philosophizing or self-questioning, but rather just because its expected to be seen in a war movie. The most *annoying* part of the film i find has to be the "summercamp movie" style soundtrack, as in whenever there is any action you'll hear an ultra cheesy song start playing really loud. It really breaks the almost-spirit of this movie. A major failing of this movie is i was completely unable to feel any empathy for any of the characters. What was i supposed to feel? Pride? they walked around a desert and did a lot of push-ups...so what. Sadness? about what? that they didn't get to kill anybody? That the guy lost his sweetheart girlfriend? yeah cause breakups only happen to marines. The scene at the end was horrible. Where he stares off into the distance and remembers his "bortherhood"... once a marine...always a marine.. What?? You didn't bond in war! you bonded dancing naked in your tent, getting drunk and jacking off!! You don't miss the marines, you miss your little frat party. You miss summercamp. In the end, i think the director just wanted to make a war movie without having anything to actually say. He watched a lot of war classics, scribbled down the recipe and tried to make his own, but it came out very flat and dry.
gave it 4 stars. 1 star for the main character acting, 3 stars for the cool cinematography.