Very sad, very long. Some plot points revealed here.

Rating: Null/10 (27 March 2004)

This movie title kept popping up in this year's Oscar coverage. I finally rented it and watched it. I didn't know going in that the movie was 3 hours long! I kept waiting and waiting through what has to have been the longest wedding and reception in film history, wondering if this movie was even going to venture to Vietnam. The payoff was immediate when the scene shifted, though. I'd like to say that physically, Steven had been altered so much I couldn't even tell it was him during the torture/Russian roulette scene. (Confusing.) Another thing I couldn't figure out throughout most of the movie: Was Michael 'good' or 'bad'? Could have gone either way, up until he tried to retrieve Nick from 'nam. I don't consider this a bad thing, just letting you know what my mind was doing during this movie. I didn't care for the music and score at all in this movie -- seemed very 70s and overdone. Glad I watched it. I'm still thinking about it, the next day. The movie raised (for me) the question of how far one has to go for friendship. I have never watched other fictions about Vietnam, so I can say to me it was only peripherally about that war, and as such I can't vouch for the 'reality' of it. I personally enjoyed the use of old film stock and was bothered more by the shots of the deer (seemed very fake to me.)