Sophomoric Writing

Rating: 6/10 (22 June 1999)

People--characters included--cannot remember things that they themselves didn't actually witness or experience. As a flashback by Ed Burns's character, this screenplay would fine (except for the dillydallying that occurs immediately after the D-Day sequence, and the moral mushiness of helping your fellow man out of a living hell only to earn a ticket home), but as a flashback by Private Ryan, as clearly intended by the melodramatic modern-day frame, this screenplay would no doubt get roundly criticized by any introductory-level university screenwriting or creative writing workshop. This was definitely NOT the heir to SCHINDLER'S LIST.