Review of Casualties of War (1989) by A A — 30 Jul 2014

Casualties of War is probably Michael J. Fox's most serious film to date, and unfortunately, it is extremely flawed. The true story is about a group of five soldiers who kidnap and rape a girl during the Vietnam War, and the subsequent court-martial of the soldiers.

But the court-martial segment is done very poorly, and the brief section that takes place in the US is even worse. The film would have been much better if it had ended about right when the soldiers returned to base, and should have focused more on what happened while the soldiers were in the bush.

Also, most of the acting in the film is really hit-or-miss. Fox and Penn definitely steal the show with their fantastic performances, but their performances aren't perfect. Fox plays Pfc. Eriksson, who is the good soldier of the group, but his character always seem to be more creepy than the ones raping the girl.

Also, the John C. Reilly character was pretty pointless, since he was basically the dumb one of the group. Overall, Casualties of War is a somewhat brilliant war film that is only ruined by it's ending and acting, but features a powerhouse performance from Sean Penn.