Review of Johnny Got His Gun (2008) by Walter M — 30 Mar 2010

It is said that our entire lives flash by in the moments before we die. Depending on how you look at it, Joe Bonham(Timothy Bottoms) may not be that lucky, having been blown to smithereens in the trenches during World War I. All that could be saved of him are his torso and the essential functions of his brain. His only sense of the outside world comes through sensations felt on his skin. After he is stabilized by Colonel Tillery(Eduard Franz), Joe is stuck in a utility closet. While not yet fully aware of the horror of his situation, Joe thinks back to the last night before he left for the war, heeding the call for volunteers made with patriotic bluster in this fight for democracy, as he puts it. As he makes his farewell to his girlfriend Kareen(Kathy Fields), she begs him to reconsider and do the sensible thing by making a run for it. Joe feels his present(filmed in black and white) is a nightmare compared to his memories(filmed in color) which take a turn to the surreal with the appearance of Christ(Donald Sutherland) who is on hand to escort dead soldiers on to the next stop.

To those squeamish, I would like to point out that "Johnny Got His Gun," written and directed by Dalton Trumbo, is not graphic. Rather, it is emotionally intense and powerful in addressing the topic of the disposability of soldiers during wartime head on. But it is not only those lives that are mourned but also those people who worked their entire lives with little reward like Joe's father(Jason Robards) who we first see at his funeral. The same can also be said of Kareen's father(Charles McGraw) who also provides unexpected kindness to the couple in such a cruel world.