It's no Saving Private Ryan

Rating: 1/10 (24 January 1999)

Maybe you're not supposed to compare the two movies but it's hard not to since they were released within a few months of one another. There was far, far, far too much soliloquy and narrative in this movie. I think the characters' emotions were well summarized by their acting but a few less dream sequences, flashbacks, etc. would have done this hard-to-follow movie well. Nothing in particular tied this movie together. I felt the filmmakers were trying to insult my intelligence by telling me about the "horrors of war" this way, rather than Saving Private Ryan's letting you experience the "horrors of war" and letting you draw your own conclusions. The audience isn't stupid. The acting was good overall but the story really sucked. And what was with all those pointless cameos? (esp. George Clooney's 2 or so lines of speech at the end) Overall I voted a 1 on this movie. There was just nothing good about it. Why do films like this have to be released in pairs (a la Dante's Peak / Volcano, ad infinitum)?