"The only people fit for power are those who do not want it"...

Rating: 9/10 (1 September 2004)

Wise words. Not mine, of course, but nevertheless a maxim that seems especially relevant in these times of fighting first and seeking answers to the important questions later.
I like that Colin Farrell as 'Bozz' is not necessarily an anti-hero in the "Catcher-in-the-Rye" style sense; or a character who's too strong for his own movie (it belongs to a few other notables just as much as he). We don't need someone to root for or hate, because escaping the situation and the decisions that led us there represents an 'end' in itself.
No, "Tigerland" isn't the first movie to draw our attention to the futility of combat; I'm sure it won't be the last - it doesn't even earn a distinction for its high quality alone. These reasons, though certainly pleasant, are not why it scores its praise from me. It's about 'moral' characters stranded where they don't belong. It's rightly sensitive enough, though, to be aware that in the 'real' world it's happening concurrently with our daily lives, and crucially WITHOUT the 'safeguards' that fiction provides...
Forget the intense camerawork, (the great film "Salvador" did it first... ) and even try and brush aside the fact that this is Schumacher in thoughtful - but non-sappy or sensational - mode for once. See it for its themes, instead - and perhaps leave it a more 'conscious' person than you were before.
(9/10, or *****/***** in profile ratings system.)