masterpiece - almost

Rating: 7/10 (12 January 1999)

I hate to see a movie like Saving Private Ryan incomplete. It is a masterpiece of a film but it could have been the greatest film ever made. It is not. Spielberg was so close and yet Saving Private Ryan is not quite the movie it should be. Don't get me wrong, it is an impressive film and I'm glad I paid to go see it. The opening sequence on the beach is utterly perfect - there are no other words to describe it, and Tom Hanks actually performs a role that is definitely Oscar worthy (Philadelphia was overrated). But there are mistakes Spielberg makes: The opening and closing shots of the American flag - (didn't Spielberg see Minghella's 'The English Patient'?), the use of the older Ryan attending the graveyard - completely unnecessary - Spielberg should have left it during WWII; and finally the character focus on Ryan - I had more interest in the Corporal Upham character played brilliantly by Jeremy Davies. I felt that at times Spielberg was doing so but then he switched back to Hanks and Damon's characters. It would have proved more effective to use Davies' character as the main protagonist. But enough of the criticising - it is nevertheless still a fine film and I think the only reason I find myself picking at these little things is my disappointment in the fact that it could have been one of the greatest films ever - and fell just a few feet short of it.