Review of We Were Soldiers (2002) by Zach T — 24 May 2009

3: A very emotionally affecting picture. Great performances and casting throughout. It is less a picture about the Vietnam War and more a picture about what war involves for the men actually fighting it.

Comparing it to a film like The Deer Hunter is just laughable, because they really aren't concerned with even remotely similar topics. Comparing it with a film like Full Metal Jacket or Platoon is a little closer to being valid, but it still doesn't quite work.

This isn't as revelatory or powerful as a more balanced approach like Saving Private Ryan or Letters from Iwo Jima, but it is very good at what it does. Namely take the viewer into the battle with the soldiers and into the homes of those left behind to wait and worry.

I've always been particularly impressed with Kinnear's work here; probably because he so rarely plays characters of this type.