Haven't I seen this before?

Rating: 5/10 (23 September 2004)

Well-filmed, but little else, TIGERLAND is another routine Army-training flick about some Texas recruits getting ready to be shipped off to Vietnam in 1971. Colin Farrell is the star, once again eager to show us all his vital organs during sex and shower scenes. What is it with this guy?
Overall the movie feels like Oliver Stone meets Martin Scorsese -- it's a rough little flick filmed on hand-held 16mm by Joel Schumacher ("Batman and Robin"). Once again Schumacher shows that he's best at handling rough human dramas (see "Falling Down" or "Phone Booth") -- unfortunately the material is so thin, and the actors and character so unlikable, that the movie is merely watchable and not very fascinating at all.
And be warned -- for a 98-minute film there's a hefty amount of sex, nudity and language. If you're a queasy viewer you might be offended. However I wanted to point out that it does not contain the "F-word" 527 times, as the IMDb trivia page points out. So far NIL IN THE MOUTH holds the record for the most swearing -- ever. Over 400 uses of the word...err...you know.
Anyway, a decent movie, well-made from a technical standpoint, but the story is so-so and the acting mediocre.