COURAGE UNDER FIRE
A film review by Rich Meitin
Copyright 1996 Rich Meitin
Directed by Edward Zwick Written by Patrick Sheane Duncan Director of photography, Roger Deakins Edited by Steven Rosenblum Music by James Horner 20th Century Fox
Rating: **** (on a scale of ****)
Capsule review: Moving and absorbing. Excellent acting, direction, scriptwriting. A shoo-in for multiple Oscars.
It's nice to know that the hollywood studio system can still come up with a fine film, every now and again. I doubt if we'll see a better "big" movie all year.
It would be a shame to discuss too much about the storyline here, because so much of the drama depends on the carefully orchestrated flashbacks that allow the characters, their conflicts, and their secrets to unfold. So I'll tread very lightly.
Denzel Washington, charismatic as always, plays Nathanial Serling, an Army colonel who is tormented by a deadly serious mistake he made during the Gulf conflict. After the battle, he finds himself at the Pentagon, assigned to investigate whether a posthumous Medal of Honor should be awarded to Captain Karen Walden, a medevac chopper pilot, played with gritty humanity by Meg Ryan in the many flashback scenes. Captain Walden is the first woman to be considered for a combat medal, so the White House (in light of the photo-op that will be created by hanging the medal around the neck of the dead pilot's pretty young daughter in the Rose Garden) is putting on extra pressure for a quick, positive decision.
At the same time, Colonel Serling continues to be pressured by the Army brass to lie about the mistake he made during the war. Serling feels, without knowing completely why, that he must seek his redemption through truth -- he must unmask the facts of both incidents, despite the pressures from above. But the truth about Captain Walden is hard to find, and the truth about himself is hard to face. As time goes on, he is aided in his quest by a clandestine relationship with a Washington Post reporter, played with admirable restraint by Scott Glenn. Serling eventually wins the conflict with his commanding officer: Full investigation and disclosure are made, culminating in a scene that could have been a Great Big Truly Awful Hollywood Climax in the hands of a less skilled director. Instead, that moment was handled with equally admirable restraint.
Among the many fine aspects of this film: The battle scenes are so personal, so intimate, if you will, that I felt more deeply than ever how War is Hell -- not because of massive battles and high-tech weaponry, but because of the impossible responsibilities and poignant relationships in the trenches. _Courage _ shows in close-up how battle is a soldier's crucible. True "courage" is not an abstract ideal. Nor is it bravado. Rather, it is a kind of integrity which underlies difficult, sometimes sudden, often ambiguous real-life decisions. Do you abandon a badly wounded, inmmovable soldier when hasty retreat is probably the safest recourse for the rest of your unit? Do you risk revealing your position to the enemy if that might save the lives of others?
_Courage_ also explores the theme of a Woman in War, not a helpmate or lover-in-waiting, ala classic war films, but a tough, exhausted, bleeding, gun-toting combatant and squad leader. It examines how equal awards and equal rank are not the same as equal respect and equal treatment. Consider, for example, how an enlisted street-wise, hyper-male tough guy might react to a female commanding officer in battle.
It is wonderful to experience the artful intertwining of the two storylines. There is a symbiosis between Ryan's and Washington's characters. He helps her by bringing to light the full dimensions of her courage, and, because of his mission to reveal her story, she in effect helps him reclaim his own courage.
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