a could-have been ....

Rating: 6/10 (7 March 2002)

this movie is 183 minutes long. if it had been 123 minutes long, it possibly would have been one of my favorites. the first 60 minutes of the movie is utter crap. the opening had killed any interest i had in the movie, and though i sat through the remaining movie and was impressed, i had absolutely lost all connect with the movie in the first hour. i just wanted the damn thing to get over. nothing. absolutely nothing happens in the first hour. i recommend you to skip the first hour and watch the movie, you wont miss a thing. it seemed like a silly charade to forcible bring the title of the movie into the plot. whatever.
having said that, the next 2 hours are brilliant, evocative and truly gut-wrenching. the scenes are poignant and tough, touching upon myriad feelings and emotions involved with war. this really is not a war movie. it is not about war in particular. the actual war scenes in themselves last only a few minutes.
robert de niro gives a convincing performance yet again but nothing great really, i dont see why meryl streep got an oscar nomination for this movie.. well considering that this movie won best picture, best director and more... i suppose the competition was not that high.
in all a disappointing 6!