Review of G.I. Jane (1997) by Amanda C — 26 Mar 2011
This is not a bad film by any stretch. In fact it could have been quite a good film except for the ending. Demi Moore gives and impressive performance as does Viggo Mortensen as always. Fortunately the film doesn't dwell too much on the fact the Moore is a woman in a mans world, placing more emphasis on the fact that she's an outsider, whatever the reason.
The last 30 minutes take a bit too much of the underdog becomes the best, feel good road, but it's still well done and subtle enough that it doesn't undermine the tempo and strength of the rest of the film.
The last five minutes however, contradict the entire preceding two hours in tone and style. Apparently Scott was forced to change the ending by the studios, so I'll chock it up to Scott essentially giving the studio the finger, but the ending is overly sentimental and fully contrived.
Mortensen goes from a hard ass, no nonsense commander to some angelic cripple and Moore is reduced to a weeping statue. The ending plays like the ending of a star crossed lovers romance as opposed to an action film, which is very problematic as the rest of the film is very much one.
While the rest of the film is solid, unfortunately the ending is the last thing the viewer sees and it's what governs the impression of the entire film.
This review of G.I. Jane (1997) was written by Amanda C on 26 Mar 2011.
G.I. Jane has generally received mixed reviews.
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