Review of Courage Under Fire (1996) by Josh A — 08 Dec 2005

I almost wish that the major plot line had been completely erased so that Denzel Washington's situation could have received the bulk of the film's focus. I just didn't appreciate Washington's character finding some cathartic peace through Meg Ryan's story, even though all the characters around him were dying or disappearing or wasting away. There was a frustrating balance of overacting and underacting. The person who I, obviously, felt got it right was Washington.

The story struggles because it takes a realtively thin experience and tries to stretch it out over 3 or 4 different perspectives. Washington's demise is never fully analyzed and his purpose is never really understood. The believability of his final state of rest is weak. I thought it was an interesting story with a good poing, one that applies particularly well to today's crys for truth from the US military about the goings-on in Iraq, but it gets sort of lost in the mix of trying to make a 2 hour film out of 20 minutes of plot.

The one shining point I thought was the soundtrack, which sounds perhaps a bit too much like Braveheart, but it does a good job effecting the tone. The acting is all over the place and the dialogue is lacking, especially since the same scenes are played over constantly throughout the movie. Overall a mediocre effort.