Please give Ali an A

Rating: 7/10 (21 December 2005)

Steve, Mike and Nick all have very different personality types. Steve was shy, timid, and sensitive. He married Angela, even though she was pregnant with somebody else's child, he can see things from other people's point of view. Mike was forceful, responsible, and a driving force. People depend on Mike, his friend didn't bring boots because he knew that Mike always had an extra pair. He has rules about how to do things, that he can only take one shot at a deer. Nick was friendly and likable, but not quite as emotionally stable. Steve's sensitivity led to his downfall, he couldn't handle what he saw, he was nervous , he couldn't get a hold of himself when they had to play Russian roulette in the POW camp and he couldn't hold onto things when they were swimming. He ended up losing his legs, but one gets the feeling that no matter what something bad would have happened to him because he wasn't as strong as the other people were. Mike's personality allowed him to cope very well. When he and Nick were forced to play each other in Russian roulette, he was able to keep the presence of mind to realize that their best chance at escaping was to put more bullets in the gun, so that if they survived a couple of rounds, they could then use the gun on their captors. He also was able to stay calm and bring Steve to safety. He was able to deal with the terrible things that he saw and he remained mentally stable even after the war. Nick did well initially, he was able to play Russian roulette with Mike, but eventually the war got to him. He couldn't cope with it any longer, so he went AWOL and he ended up playing Russian roulette for a living and becoming addicted to heroin as a way to cope. When Mike comes back to get him, he doesn't recognize him until he plays against him, and then Nick dies. He was my favorite character so I was very upset when he died. I think that their previous lives makes all of this fairly plausible, but it could have happened differently. Steve was weaker emotionally, so it seems likely that he would have lost his mind, and perhaps wound up dead. However, the way that the events unfolded does work, because of the emotional and mental states of the characters at the beginning of the film.