Gripping

Rating: Null/10 (5 February 2003)

I just saw this film yesterday and I was amazed by it. The only thing I knew about it before I watched it was that Robert De Niro was in it so I think that gave me an advantage over other viewers who were expecting a war movie.
At first when I was watching and I saw the clichÃ©d characters - De Niro, best at everything, Streep, beaten by her drunk dad and in love with 'that boy' - I was ready for a boring romantic film in which the main male does to go off to war and dies there, rendering him unable to marry his new found love.
But once the wedding party kicked in, I knew this wasn't the case. This long scene was well directed and very realistic as well as entertaining and fun. I thought the cut from the scene where the boys all pause and feel the reality of Nicky, Michael and Stevey's leaving for Vietnam through John's soft piano playing to the scene with the three men right in on the action in Vietnam was very powerful.The Russian roulette scene was amazing. Powerful acting, and very shocking action.
If you don't mind long films and have an eye for realism, this is your film.