Lotta FX and a Love Triangle

Rating: Null/10 (25 May 2001)

In this big action treatment of FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, TORA! TORA! TORA!, and THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO, the historical plot gives way to technical FX and melodrama. I didn't complain when James Cameron did that with TITANIC because the characters and the plot were integrated into the main story of the great ship's disaster, but here history takes a back seat.
The superficial character development of the romantic triangle doesn't justify the sluggish first 90 minutes of the movie. The characters played by Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett are not in the same league with such great on-screen rivalries as those done by Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, but I fault the director and writer for that, not the actors. I cringed at some of the trite dialogue delivered with sha-ZAM faked accents. Much of the 1940s atmosphere before the Pearl Harbor raid is slick but is as superficial as the characters.
Then there are the unintentional laughs such as the mountains of Long Island, the US Capitol doubling as the Navy Department, and the classic Woody car clearly in view right after the sexual encounter scene. And isn't it convenient that we have two buddies, one for each major theater of the war? As far as the mawkish, repetitive music -- don't bother listening. We even have crucifixion imagery. I think there must be a kitchen sink in there someplace too.
However, I have to say that ultimately I liked the film. It works best when it starts focusing on the Japanese preparations for war, and after we finally meet FDR and see the Pearl Harbor attack followed by the Doolittle raid. I think the director and writer could have trimmed the opening sequences from 90 to at most 45 minutes, and the film would have gotten off to a much better start.
While I can't recommend the first act, the second and third acts are worth the effort. So sit back, relax, eat your popcorn slowly (get a big bag and take a good 90 minutes to savor the flavor), and wait for the real movie to begin.