Possibly the worst Oscar's winner ever..

Rating: 5/10 (9 March 2010)

Where do I begin.. You have Inglourious Basterds, Up, Up in the Air, Avatar (not to mention films which didn't make it to the list, such as The Antichrist), and THIS is what is supposed to be the best film of the year? Really?
OK, so let's begin with the positive stuff. The film is intense and quite suspenseful to watch. I found it quite interesting, although not always. Now to the negative stuff. I will make several points. First, the plot. There is no plot - just a bunch of scenes put together. OK, I get it, they meant to show the everyday life of soldiers and do not need a plot for that? Well they failed, because, second, the everyday life of soldiers is not like that. I do not want to repeat all the goofs, errors, anachronisms, etc. in this film. Errors like there was no YouTube in 2004 and the soldiers mention it just shows a lack of education by the people responsible for dialogue. But the fact that the rascal such as Will in reality would not be tapped on the shoulder when he repeatedly unnecessarily puts his fellow soldiers in danger just strikes at the very core of the film's premise and makes it all nonsensical. Oh, some people say that at least the opening scene is realistic. Well, do you really think just because a wheel broke off they would risk the soldier's life? No, they would prepare another carriage. If they are desperate, they would even tie some explosives to the robot and detonate it - a life is worth more than this. Third, the film's message really confuses me. I do not know if it is plain propaganda showing how "the boys are fighting for USA" or that the soldiers cannot easily find their place after the war in the real life? If it's first, it's really bad, and if second - well everyone knows that people are not the same after the army or prison, and may develop a sort of addiction. Fourth, the characters are stereotypical and bland. You have the adventurous type, the cowardly newbie type, the doctor who has no field experience and gets killed the first time he goes to fight type.. Fifth, the pretentiously stupid filming style, unjustified by anything - the shaky camera thing, the slow motion bullet cap dropping.. This is just terrible. Nevertheless, I have to give it 5 out of 10 - it is still much better than Home Alone 4 or Jingle All the Way.