Heavy-handed Rubbish

Rating: Null/10 (6 March 2006)

This is by far one of the most pompous and heavy-handed antiwar films ever. The plot is preposterous and the interaction between characters borders on sheer caricature. This sort of artificiality might be excused to some extent if the film itself did not beg--and I mean grovel, simper and then stamp its feet--for some skewed, hackneyed sense of profundity. The pretentious symbolism is enough to drive a viewer with the least bit of poetry in his or her soul far, far away. The allusions to far better war films and texts scream for attention like a six year old boy beside a GI Joe display in Wal-Mart. Cheap, cheap theatrics meant to evoke some cornball mystical view of a man's place in a conflicted world. The self-indulgent cinematography and story line make this epic and unbearable experience.