Review of They Were Expendable (1945) by Johan A — 04 Sep 2008

This movie was expendable!

I'm sorry. I'm really tired. I'm into hour fourteen of an eighteen hour work day. The world's officially gone to blah and I just can't do anything about it productive. I'm amazed that I think that dabbling in writing will answer any concerns. Too bad I'm so behind on reviews that it doesn't matter how tired I am. If I have two seconds to write, I'm going to take it.

It's not that this movie is bad or good. This might be one of the hardest thing to ever describe in my reviews, but it just did very little for me. I know I shouldn't hardcore binge on a genre of film at a time because it makes the lesser movies in the set just seem absolutely pathetic, but this movie just didn very little for me. This is one of those patriotic films that doesn't decide to get into real depth. Rather, this is more about the glory of war. I guess out of the group, I'd have to compare it to Sands of Iwo Jima, which I believe is the last thing I reviewed. That may be the laziest comparison I've done in a while, reminiscent of what the remake of School for Scoundrels tried to pull ("Bad Santa meets Napoleon Dynamite!" Yes...both those actors were in those movies.) I know that John Wayne was in both, but these movies weren't trying to move you. These movies are for the hardcore war fans who have a den and read up on technical backgrounds on major battles. For those people who really want to know how the PT boat got into play, then I guess this movie is for you.

It doesn't suck. I have to stress that. It just isn't all that good. The main thing that you are watching for is the knowledge that PT boats will one day get the attenton that they deserve! But there's no surprise behind it. Really, the most emotion you can really sum up comes in the form of "Hey, you dumb general! Give those PT boats a chance! They can change the war! I know! I'm from the future!" But that's really it. How moved am I after this?

There's a ton of cast members in the movie and I guess that can always cause problems. We find out that certain people die and you have to wonder...who was that? There were just too many people to really give the credit to instead of developing character as I would like. Really, the only one who really gets attention (surprise!) is John Wayne when it comes to Donna Reed. But like all of John Wayne's characters, he plays a bit of a hardass who will take unnecessary risks to serve his country. Unlike the real John Wayne, who ducked conflict like the devil himself. But he's got that little romance in the movie, and that makes the movie pretty darned tolerable. I like Donna Reed. Maybe it's just the concept of Donna Reed, but I guess that gives me a little bit of hope when it comes to watching a movie. I mean, sure, I was giving the movie more than its fair due, but I was hoping their relationship would have worked out. I did like how they kept that fairly cryptic and didn't give the outright happy ending which is to be normally expected in this kind of wildly pro-war movie. Ah well, at least we see the sacrifice. (Are you reading how cold and distant I sound? I gotta get some sleep!).

Perhaps I should be nicer and give this movie more than I am. But John Ford has his name attached to this film! I should be praising its good name. Rather, I'm bored to pieces knowing that the movie isn't all that bad...it just isn't for me.