Cram as much diversity and politics as possible

Rating: 3/10 (27 January 2007)

Like someone says in the movie about poetry, look behind the words. There are so many issues one has read in the newspaper in the last few years that are displayed in this movie as to make it a joke. There's a water torture, there's gay guy who's murdered, there's a forced marriage, there's domestic spying, there's fraternity initiation that get's crazy, there's a scene where a jilted wife finds out about her cheating husband and in a social group and throws the photos at him, there's some sex, there's a twist at the end, there's nudity, there's an interracial relationship, gee all that's left is someone being thrown from an airplane... hum.
This movie lost me when the old gay former professor is beaten to death and one hear's cries and screaming and realistically that would not be the case as it would be done very quietly, maybe some dull sounds like someone pounding a rock. The makeup on Alec Baldwin in his first scene was too much as I guess they were trying to make him look pale and close to death. Matt Damon basically plays the role very much like his Mr. Ripley character, showing very little personality. Angelina Jolie acting is passable, but she's no Meryl Streep or Sally Field.
The pace of the movie makes up for Matt Damon's underplaying his role. The switching back and forth over a couple of decades is sometimes dizzying, and Damon's character never seems to age.
Of course this movie attacks the "military industrial business", but like all left wing based movies does not recognize that this business was to keep the USA one step ahead of the USSR, who kept putting the pressure on, via, Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Angola, etc.
Of course every movie of this caliber depends on stupid, naive people and there's a lot in this one.