Tall Order

Rating: 6/10 (25 March 2007)

It's not easy bringing a realistic war to the big screen. One must manage to weave a story around the severed limbs and crushed skulls of combat, a tall order that only a few films have brilliantly accomplished.
WE WERE SOLDIERS accomplishes it, too, but not as well as predecessors like BLACK HAWK DOWN and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. Director Randall Wallace gets full marks for realism (you'll cringe at the charred flesh and gushing extremities), but it all feels like a distraction from the story rather than an integral part of it. And although all "real war" films are out of necessity chaotic and confusing, Wallace doesn't give the audience enough chances to catch its breath.
Like RYAN and BLACK HAWK, the biggest virtue of WE WERE SOLDIERS is its human side. The scenes with Madeleine Stowe and her friend touring the neighborhood back home to deliver death notices are touching and sobering. Mel Gibson's character, a lieutenant colonel of strong faith called on to participate in something so awful, is deep and intriguing. The bond between Gibson's comes across as sincere and pure.
In fact, it's probably fair to say WE WERE SOLDIERS is strongest off the battlefield. It's a relatively good film, but it's a tad hollow as it falls short of greatness.