war protester or war hero?

Rating: 7/10 (13 November 2001)

I never heard anything about this 1999 production until it hit pay per view. Joel Schumacher previous work, especially 8MM, interested me enough to purchase it.
The narration is not consistent. At the end, it becomes obvious that this is the memory of Private Paxton's memory of basic training in 1971. Early in the movie, Private Paxton becomes friends with Roland Bozz, played by Collin Farrel (soon to be a household name). I thought I noticed an occasional Irish accent in Farrel, as he was playing a Texan, but otherwise he was great.
Bozz is a natural leader but had decided long before he was ever drafted that this war was wrong and no one should have to go. To the drill seargents and conservatives of the day, he is a coward, communist, hippie. During boot camp, it turns out he is the guy you would trust with your life in battle. It was a great contradiction: Farrel's character is selflessness to his fellow trainees but he disdains authority (government, politicians, military). In a different War, such WWII, private Bozz would have been a hero, probably dying while saving one of his brothers. But in the early 1970s not everyone was on board with the cause.