Tough but ultimately powerful film

Rating: 10/10 (7 February 1999)

I read the James Jones novel this was based on about a year ago, and after seeing the movie, I intend to read it again to see how it compares. I can understand how many people have walked out saying "What the hell was that?" For me, however, it was quite powerful. I've never seen a Terrence Malick film before, but I was overcome by a lot of the images here. Not just the war ones either; the image I most remember from the film is the shot of Miranda Otto(as Ben Chaplin's wife) on a swing. This is not a linear plot movie, which always drives people crazy. Rather, it's a mood piece, and a reflection on man's relation to nature (and how war violates that relationship). This, of course, brings it to the land of "nothingness of being" movies, which normally drives me crazy, but I found it worked here.
The voice-overs were a little over-used, but other than that, I have no complaints, not even of the rather large cast. James Caviezel did a good job carrying the movie, and everyone else was good as well.