Pretty, but empty and pretentious

Rating: 5/10 (19 August 1999)

THE THIN RED LINE is the story of Company C, a U.S. Army unit during the World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It must attack a hill occupied by Japanese soldiers. You now know the entire plot of THE THIN RED LINE, and yes, it is every bit as boring as it sounds.
THE THIN RED LINE is subject to the same critique as THE PHANTOM MENACE: it's nobody's story. Most of the characters (with two merciful exceptions) are boring and literally interchangeable; more than one reviewer has confused one character with another.
The voice-over narration consists of maundering banalities disguised as philosophy. At one point one of the G.I. narrators (who? who knows or cares?) mumbles, "Who's killing us?" The Japanese soldiers are killing you, of course! And you're killing them! What could be more obvious or banal? Another pompously suggests that all humans are part of one universal soul. Are we seriously to believe that two men such as Col. Tall and Cap. Staros, with such different outlooks on life and diametrically opposite reactions to violence, have the same "soul?"
Oddly for a movie so obsessed with imagery (particularly of the lush jungle), THE THIN RED LINE consistently tells us what is happening to the characters, rather than showing us. Officers beg for water for their men, lest the poor sods pass out, but we never see a soldier pass out or even gulp the last drip from a canteen. Show us, Malick! Show us the crusted salt dried on the baked skin of a man who has no water left in his body for sweat! Show us the field surgeon losing his ability to care what happens to the men, don't just have him tell us about it! Show us Arnold Schwarzenegger getting blown to pieces while Rick Moranis survives, don't give us a line like, "No matter how strong or well trained you are, if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, you're going to get it." Show us what's happening to the people, not to the !@#$% papaya tree!
The movie is also scandalously inaccurate. Any war veterans in the audience will giggle to see two dozen Japanese voluntarily surrender to Company C alone. In reality, Japanese soldiers were almost never captured alive, and when they were it was usually because they were too badly hurt to resist further. Even worse is the portrayal of the native Solomon Islanders, who are made out as living a serene and peaceful life untouched by the war. In fact, the natives of Guadalcanal were very unhappy about being invaded by the Japanese, and made crucial contributions to the American victory by carrying water, ammunition and other supplies to the troops, rescuing American wounded, and as coastwatchers warning the G.I.'s of attack by air or sea. All of this was at great risk to their lives. The movie's treatment of them as passive flower children is inaccurate, patronizing and downright insulting. Also, the idea of a soldier with multiple AWOL offenses not being court-martialled is absurd. This is World War II, when they shot Private Slovik for desertion.
In all fairness, the cinematography is breathtaking. Also, the acting is uniformly high-quality, with Nick Nolte as Col. Tall and Elias Koteas as Cap. Staros providing very strong performances, especially considering the weakness of the script they had to work with. The battle scenes are kinetic, giving you the feeling you are charging alongside the troops, and they manage to convey some pathos despite the film's refusal to let us connect with the characters. Only these elements save THE THIN RED LINE from being a total loss.
Bloody but detached, contemplative but witless, visually beautiful but emotionally dead, THE THIN RED LINE is not worth renting. Hard-core film buffs might want to watch it on TV for the acting and for John Toll's flawless cinematographic technique.
Rating: ** out of ****.