Product: Casualties of War [UMD for PSP] (1989)
Rating: 3.0
De Palma's foray into Vietnam has mixed results
Casualties of War stars Michael J. Fox in one of his first "serious" roles as an actor, along with Sean Penn who is great in the film. The film follows a group of young soldiers, led by Penn on a mission in Vietnam, in which Sergeant Meserve (Penn) decides to kidnap a young Vietnamese girl whom he claims is VC so the soldiers can "have some fun" along the way of their new mission.The episode with the kidnapped girl is the meat of the film, with a very good beginning and a somewhat disappointing ending sandwiching the shocking, very well-done middle. The film does feature some great acting, and De Palma, as always, finds a way to shock and maybe disgust his viewers. The main problem with the movie is that it just never feels really complete. After the incident, we are taken back to base camp, where Fox has to decide whether to report the incident to his superiors. While the film does an admirable job of trying to show the dilemma that Fox is facing, the viewer is ultimately left uncaring, due to the lagtime between the incident and the vindication that finally comes near the end of the film.While Casualties of War is definitely not a bad film, it had the unfortunate distinction of being released at the same time as Full Metal Jacket, Born of the Fourth of July, and Platoon. And compared to those, the film doesn't quite stand up. It is an admirable attempt by De Palma to truly transcend genres, but I think that I, and all other De Palma fanboys, hope that he just sticks to his bread and butter.