Adequate but Unexceptional!

Rating: 7/10 (20 June 2008)

If movies reflect the real sentiments of society, perhaps the cinema has been telling us what we've known for ages yet seem to forget with each generationthe horror of war. More than the horror of war alone, the current crop of films about Vietnam depicts the conflict as an exercise in futility. Whether Vietnam technically qualifies as a "war" is now academic, but for the men who fought and died in it, Vietnam was a "war"unconventional and without glory. In "Thunderbolt & Lightfoot" director Michael Cimino's "The Deer Hunter," with Robert De Niro, three young Americans volunteer for the adventure of combat in Southeast Asia in the late 1960s as an alternative to the humdrum oblivion of life in a Northern mill town. The nightmare that they plunge themselves into when they Vietnam is a descent into chaos from which they never recover.
The plot of "The Deer Hunter" is both epic and episodic. The first half of this 182-minute epic concerns the characters before they embark for the 'Nam.' They live in a small town whose activities revolve around a steel mill. About the only pastimes they can revel in are boozing at a friend's bar and hunting. The second half occurs in Vietnam. They are captured, escape, and return to civilian life, with mental and physical scars that they cannot conquer. Sadly, the filmmakers have had to pare down their mini-series plot to accommodate the two to three hour running time. Some scenes wear out their welcome. The wedding, for example, is a grandiose spectacle in an awesome church. But Cimino wallows in the spectacle of the wedding to excess. Indeed, the ceremony is as interesting as its setting is magnificent, but it does little to advance the plot. The entire wedding ceremony qualifies as the chick flick part of this war film.
Never does Cimino foreshadow his transitions. The changes of locale from America to Vietnam and from combat to capture are distressingly abrupt. "The Deer Hunter" emerges as an uneven, series of loosely strung together scenes that are more powerful than their overall design. At times, too, the symbolism is so obvious as to be corny. During the wedding, John Savage and Meryl Streep drink a toast to their marriage. If they drink without spilling a drop, they will have good luck. In a close-up, we see an unnoticed fleck of wine stain her dress. Other scenes seem unconsciously funny. Michael (Robert De Niro), the hero of the movie, who is the "The Deer Hunter" of the title, is shown in a hunting scene stalking a deer. He edges up on one side of the slope framed by majestic mountains and raises his rifle. The camera pans to reveal a deer poised not far off as proudly as the deer in the Hartford Insurance commercial. If that isn't sufficient, the music behind the scene is a heavenly choir that celebrates the relationship of De Niro to the deer in the game of the hunt, a solemn heroic act. How pretentious!
Director Michael Cimino does direct "The Deer Hunter" with verve. They early mill town scenes have gusto galore, and the setting of the film is solidly established by the era's popular music. The Russian roulette scenes are painfully intense, almost unbearable, and very convincing. Unfortunately, Cimino never gives his audience a chance either to breathe or laugh. "The Deer Hunter" is dramatically intense to the point of monotonous. "Deliverance" lenser Vilmos Zsigmond's beautiful, sweeping photography at least makes the film a visual delight.
As war movies go, "The Deer Hunter" breaks no new ground. Actually, it's more about the effect of war on the characters, played by a superb cast, than Vietnam. If you're looking for an exciting, entertaining action epic, skip "The Deer Hunter." However, if you like fare that nourishes your intellect as well as your eye and doesn't have a happy ending, see "The Deer Hunter."