Sheer brilliance

Rating: Null/10 (9 June 1999)

'The Thin Red Line' was criticized by all the critics that saw it, and was deemed boring and predictable. I saw it with a friend who was interested in it, and didn't expect much.
I stepped out of the theatre breathless; a different person. No movie had ever affected me that much since I saw 'Full Metal Jacket' years earlier.
The mysterious but clever director Terrence Mallick has brought a new form of storytelling to the cinema. Typical movies have three sections, with two 'plot points' between them. There would be a 'good guy' and a 'bad guy'. The Thin Red Line defied that, but with such essence and depth that you will emotionally change.
Based on the James Jones novel bearing the same title, it chronicles the American invasion of Guadalcanal, and watches as these confident, cocky men die for nothing. It unleashes deep, provocative issues that must be recognized by all for their importance in today's society.
This movie does, however, require endurance, but it will draw you in to it if you yield to it. Everybody should, because, there is not only a Thin Red Line between sanity and insanity, but also between the wise and simple.