Some films don't need a plot - this is one

Rating: 8/10 (7 January 2000)

"Thin Red Line" features much more musing and philosophizing than combat. I suppose that's the clearest warning I can give to anyone who needs a movie to be plot driven. This is more like a poem than a novel. There is no protagonist, unless you really stretch the term. There is no one antagonist- not even the Japanese. Some of the U.S. soldiers even feel a connection with their enemy, or else mourn the lack. But I think it's a good film even without a strong story line. This is a remarkable achievement for Malick. He pulls it off. In the right hands, a strong theme can replace a strong plot. Malick's not interested in Good Guy vs. Bad Guy. He's after the struggle to maintain a sense of hope in the worst conditions. You see this most strongly in Sean Penn's character, who is deeply conflicted.
I do have some problems with the movie. Generally, the bigger the star, the more damage they do to it. Travolta and Cloony are awful. Cloony in particular plays the same guy he always plays. He could deliver the same lines dressed in black rubber body suit. Travolta is just not believable. I thought Sean Penn gave a good performance, but something made it hard to believe. I just didn't see him as a 1st sergeant. Maybe it was as simple a thing as his hair style. I could have bought him as a lower rank, easily. Nick Nolte was believable.
The battle sequences are very strong, very effective at putting you in the middle of the scene. I ducked from tracer bullets once.