Heartfelt But Unconvincing.

Rating: 5/10 (7 September 2013)

Michael Cimino directs this long character study & war picture that follows a group of friends from a wedding, to a deer hunting trip, to finally the Vietnam war and its aftermath. Over three hour film details their lives before & after the war, on both the men and their families.
Fine cast includes Robert De Nero, Christopher Walken, and Meryl Streep, who all deliver heartfelt and believable performances, but the trouble is that the extended POW sequence involving Russian Roulette just feels so bizarre and extreme, that I had a hard time buying it, especially when one of the characters becomes obsessed with it after their ordeal is over. Somehow, this drags the film down, and by the end, instead of feeling emotionally drained(like many of the audience claimed) the film felt emotionally muted, like it had gone too far afield and lost sight of what it was supposed to be about.
Still, a minority view I suppose, since it did win an Academy Award for best picture and director.