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Simply Perfect

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Max Eriksson (Michael J. Fox) is a Vietnam vet haunted by an incident during the war. Sgt. Tony Meserve (Sean Penn) leads a squad of five soldiers. He's hard-nosed and then his longtime friend gets hit. Eriksson is still considered cherry. PFC Diaz (John Leguizamo) is the new replacement. Along with Cpl. Clark (Don Harvey) and PFC Hatcher (John C. Reilly), the group kidnaps a village girl and rapes her.I have some problems with the realism of the look. It's the way director Brian De Palma shoots some of the action. At least twice, he uses the background to show action while in the foreground a character looks forward. It's a very manufactured look and takes away from the realism that this movie desperately needs. MJF does the ethical naive jittery newbie but something about him strikes me unrealistic. He's not up to the drama. It's not gritty enough. I feel it would be more intense if he kept more quiet. The character needs to have some more internal conflict. On the other, Sean Penn nails it as the disturbed leader of the squad. But that just emphasized the lack of drama acting coming from MJF.

Kudos to Brian de Palma for making this brave movie. There aren't many movies that show war crimes by U.S. soldiers. Most Vietnam war movies focus on the impact of the war on the U.S. soldiers. The effect on civilians in Vietnam is often too painful and unpopular to deal with. It is a movie that shows Vietnam as tragedy for everyone involved not just the combatants. The true story of the rape and murder of a Vietnamese farm girl and it's exposure by a soldier who refused to take part is shown in a straightforward and unflinchingly direct way. The rape and murder itself is beyond heartbreaking. Yet the story isn't one sided. It shows the perpetrators being in such a horrid situation that allowed something like this to happen. The movie shows the difficulties and consequences of being a whistle blower - how relevant today.Michael J Fox gives a very moving and sympathetic performance showing he is a fine dramatic actor. My initial misgivings of him as being mainly a comedic actor were quickly dispelled. Sean Penn gives a totally believable performance as the idiotic sergeant in charge. The Vietnamese actress Thuy Thu Le's performance is so good that it's almost too painful to watch.This movie isn't as famous as it should be and deserves a place among the most powerful and well acted war movies of all time.

Brian De Palma directed this powerful story that stars Michael J. Fox as Eriksson, one of a five-man unit during the Vietnam war that sees events turn sour, since his unit sees much action, in which he believes civilians were wrongfully killed, but later things take an even more evil turn when the group's "leader" Sgt. Meserve(played by Sean Penn) orders the abduction of a young Vietnamese girl for a group rape. Absolutely appalled, Eriksson refuses to participate, though the only thing he could of done to stop it was shoot them, something he found himself unable to do. After the girl dies, Eriksson reports the incident to the authorities, who eventually charge the men, but Eriksson still finds himself an outcast. Heartbreaking film with excellent performances, though is certainly not easy to watch. Eriksson sums up the situation perfectly when he says "We're supposed to be helping these people..."

It has been a while since I last saw this movie. I decided to watch once again and I got to say that I am still amazed by the quality on this movie regarding the actors (Michael J.Fox is tremendous is his role), the music, the scene, the realization, the plot...For the one who says that it is an anti war movie, that American soldiers were heroes... I will just add that as a book, an article in the newspaper, a song... the movie depicts a specific event which occurred in Vietnam, and sadly it is a realistically true and usual behavior from soldiers in period of war. For movies showing American soldiers as heroes I will just let you choose between the million of them.Great storyline, great movie. Still love it.