THE WALKING DEAD
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 6.2
U.S. Availability: general release on 2/24/95 Running Length: 1:29 MPAA Classification: R (Violence, language, mature themes)
Starring: Joe Morton, Allen Payne, Eddie Griffin, Vonte Sweet, Roger Floyd Director: Preston A. Whitmore II Producers: George Jackson, Frank Price, and Douglas McHenry Screenplay: Preston A. Whitmore II Cinematography: John L. Demps, Jr. Music: Gary Chang Released by Savoy Pictures
As is true of almost any historical event of social or cultural significance, the war in Vietnam has spawned numerous motion pictures. >From the juvenile exploitation of Chuck Norris' MISSING IN ACTION flicks to the powerhouse dramas PLATOON and APOCALYPSE NOW, almost every genre has had its Vietnam War representative. For the most part, however, the role of the black soldier has been overlooked or ignored--at least until now. Though no one will confuse Preston Whitmore's sporadically effective THE WALKING DEAD with the emotionally-bruising GLORY, this film does for Vietnam what Edward Zwick's epic did for the Civil War.
The most apparent weakness in Whitmore's film is its forced structure, which incorporates character-building flashbacks into a fairly routine war story. With its unfortunate need to meticulously set up every scene, the screenplay has an overplotted feel that seems like the byproduct of a script-by-numbers design. And, while it's critical to learn the protagonists' backgrounds, the manner in which their stories are presented comes across as a writer's artifice.
The film centers around five Marines who are all-but-abandoned on a suicide rescue mission. In fact, they are decoys, not really expected to survive. In command is Sergeant "Rev" Barkley (Joe Morton), a tough-talking, no-nonsense, ex-preacher whose past harbors a dark secret. Despite his superior rank, however, Barkley doesn't go unchallenged in his authority, and most of the insubordination comes from Pvt. Hoover Branche (Eddie Griffin), an angry young man who professes an unwillingness to make any friends in 'Nam. A frequent object of dissention is Cpl. Pippins (Roger Floyd), a veteran soldier driven over the brink by the horrors of combat. Pfcs. Brooks (Vonte Sweet) and Evans (Allen Payne), a pair of relatively "normal" guys, round out the group.
THE WALKING DEAD has moments of emotional candor, but much of what's on screen is derivative. The internal conflicts, petty jealousies, and inevitable bonding are all familiar plot devices. And the method of unwrapping personalities one-by-one is more intrusive than effective. Once the shooting starts, we want to stay "in country" with the protagonists, not go wandering through old memories.
Although Allen Payne gets top billing, Joe Morton and Eddie Griffin anchor the viewer's perspective. The tension between Branche and Barkley crackles, in large part due to strong performances. If there's a weak link, it's Vonte Sweet, who doesn't have the screen presence to engender any real sympathy for his character. In the end, Brooks is just another potential corpse waiting to be cut down.
The ultimate message of THE WALKING DEAD--that war is about survival, not glory--is a theme that filmmakers have constantly turned to the Vietnam War for. This time, however, it's not whites facing the front lines, but blacks, and this movie's willingness to examine the issue of race in the war lends a measure of significance to an otherwise mundane picture. It's not an exaggeration to state that the most provocative elements of Whitmore's film have less to do with what the soldiers face in Vietnam than why these particular men are there in the first place.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews