Blasphemy (?)

Rating: Null/10 (11 September 2003)

"The Deer Hunter" is a movie made watchable by excellent actors at the top of their games, nothing more. Director Cimino was subsequently revealed as a fraud by the truly horrible pictures he trotted out as encores. DH's faults are many; let me elaborate.
ROULETTE: Even when I saw it as a kid in 1978 I remember wondering if Russian Roulette was the national pastime of Viet Nam. It wasn't. No vets I've talked to, or seen on the tube, have ever heard of our soldiers being subjected to this torture (though I've heard of far worse stuff). Being such a central issue to the movie, one would hope it had some basis in fact.

AUTHENTICITY: DH doesn't have it. Why are all the actors speaking with New York accents? To non Americans, let me assure you that accents from western Pennsylvania (where I hail from) are as different from NY as London to Northumbria. How did the Rocky Mountains get to Pennsylvania? Why are a bunch of 35 year olds enlisting in the army when the avg age of Vietnam era privates was 19? Steelworkers from around Pittsburgh drink Iron City beer, not Rolling Rock (which was a "ladies' beer"). Exactly how long is Nick making a living playing roulette, by the way? Are we really to believe that these folks sang "God Bless America" after the funeral? Some of the actors involved thought the singing was a bad touch...and they were right. The movie has some virtues, but is generally a failure.