Review of Casualties of War (1989) by David K — 06 Jul 2010

Brian DePalma delivers a thought provoking war film that never quite pushes the envelope as it really should. "Casualties of War" definitely touches on some "touchy" issues; rape, murder, the armed forces, Vietnam, the judicial system in the armed forces, etc.

All of these things are at the heart of the film, and that's commendable. The problem I have with it is the unneeded bookend sequences on the bus. They're there to spell out ideas that are already obvious.

I think to create a "happy" ending on such a movie dealing with serious issues is a cop-out and therefore disheartening. Also, the film hasn't aged that well. Instead of feeling like it was made during the 60's, during the war, the film always feels like an 80's movie.

I attribute this to both the style, which is very stagey, and to the choice of the leads. Don't get me wrong, I love both Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox, but I just don't feel like they carry the film as well as they're supposed to.

That problem could be DePalma's fault too. Who knows? Anyway, "Casualties of War" is a good film, posing some serious issues, but don't expect a truly challenging film or anything new.