Reviews

At best, the movie was average. The narrative is somewhat heartbreaking but never reaches a high degree of intrigue. I had the impression that I was constantly waiting for the big reveal, the big twist, or the moment that would pique my curiosity, but it never materialized.

From the protagonist's lover's death until the revelation of the unidentified affair, there were opportunities to set up the film, but it failed to elicit the necessary emotions. I'm not sure if this makes the film more realistic than other films where I found the characters were more sympathetic and relatable. All the movie did for me, though, was make itself seem dull.

The film follows an Army squad on the battlefield in 1968 during the Vietnam War. The story is told with a lot less fanfare than typical war movies, yet it is quite effective in its approach as the soldiers become the main focus. Each member of the squad gives memorable performances, and two lieutenants are uncommonly portrayed as being in love.

The secret mission the squad eventually undertakes benefits the U. S. military. Yet, the sense that no good ever comes from war, only tragedy and sorrow, is deeply felt as the devastating loss of life eventually ensues. I highly recommend this film for its magnificent portrayal of the many losses associated with war.

The movie just didn't work. Was it the directing, the acting, the dialogue or maybe the entire script? I don't really know, but something didn't work. The characters delivered lines as if being read directly from a page. It seemed that half of the time the dialogue was trying to either explain the plot or teach everyone the meanings of the plot.

All of the actors were attractive, but none of the characters being portrayed seemed like real people. Thus the characters created no feelings or empathy for me, including the 10-year dilemma. And the dilemma, after being mentioned at the beginning of the film, was barely touched upon and seemed to go by the wayside as the movie progressed.

The two lead characters, Myles and Brody, had no real chemistry between themselves throughout the film. So, at the end I was actually hoping that Myles would continue on and get to New York. But, sadly the movie had to have a happy ending between two characters who did not seem to belong together and definitely did not seem to be in love.

I just finished watching another film, Love or Whatever, from 2012 and although it was not an award winner film by far, at least the quirky characters seemed somewhat real and created some feelings for me for them. By the end, I was rooting for a happy ending and hoping the main protagonist would find love.

The movie is somewhat interesting but confusing. I'd call the movie a drama with horror due to the murders and not a thriller since it is not that exciting. The first 50%, or so, of the film focuses on the brother, Borja, then the next segment is primarily with the two brothers, Borja and Vincente, and the ending with Vincente (as Borja).

Borja accepts his homosexuality, but the film doesn't really go anywhere with that which gets a little frustrating. Vincente does not accept being gay which is probably due to the timeframe of the film, 1986, when being gay was still widely unaccepted. Also, Vincente, longing for the company of men, experienced horrors with his father's suicide (who was also gay), negative cruising experiences and eventually even his brother's murder by his mother.

With the murder of his brother, Vincente apparently assumes the identity of Borja in order to give himself permission to fulfill his own desires. But, again his desires only end in horror, as Vincente believes he and his entire family have been cursed by the loveless marriage of his father and mother. He even bids a farewell to his brother and mother at their gravestone that he'll see them in hell someday.

As to why Vincente's supposed lover has murderous intentions at the end is beyond me. I guess it's keeping with the spirit of the times, 1986-1999, that being gay is inappropriate and deserves death. Sadly, that seems to be continually portrayed about those times.

The first 30 minutes are fairly intriguing. Then, the film becomes repetitive and boring somewhat repeating itself for the next 20 minutes or so. Following that, the film could have been very interesting with the storyline including more of the hunter and a re-appearance from Kate, the delivery person. Instead the movie returns to the earlier repetitiveness and turns to silliness with an ending that is not only disappointing but stupid.

The movie starts off okay but shortly after hijackers appear, it becomes a really silly movie after the co-pilot, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, makes the bone-headed decision to communicate with the passengers (which also includes the hijackers). If this is standard protocol, then I guess, there's nothing like keeping the enemy informed of what's going on!

After that reassurance from the co-pilot to the passengers, the movie seemed too ridiculous and contrived. I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to continue watching a co-pilot with no brains.