a 5 star cast with a 3 star script

Rating: 7/10 (9 November 2001)

So much of this movie was so good and so much of it was cringemaking. I mean, where do you get off in the Vietnam jungle under fire with a colour co-ordinated funky tied kerchief on your head instead of a regulation helmet ? The photography was splendid, some of the shots from the helicopters were awesome and the entire atmosphere of Kabul and the US embassy under fire was marvellously done. Poor Jackson had to labour with some awful lines, and the whole outcome of the plot and court case was ambiguous to say the least, a lot of plot holes. TL Jones' portrayal of a washed up alcoholic lawyer was excellent, but I was never clear on why some crucial evidence was destroyed and why. It would have felt more satisfying if the verdict had gone the other way than what was portrayed here, more believable, somehow. Friedkin's direction as portrayed in the DVD was dedicated and realistic.However, I am always baffled when an army/military/marine movie portrays so many friendless, or just one-friend-in-the-whole-wide-world officers. Surely in all their years in service they would have picked up pals in the mess, the bridge club, the bar or the gym. Just solitary men with literally a whole army of companionship not availed of. Odd blokes, those military movie men. 7 out of 10 for the magnificent effort by all the hard working actors and director and raspberries for the script.