Average soapy melodrama of three Veterans reuniting 30 years later is lifted by "Rick" Linklater and Darryl Ponicsan's writing and great performances by Bryan Cranston as a bar owner and Laurence Fishburne as a minister, more than main character Steve Carell.
Three former Vietnam servicemen meet 30 years later in 2003 when one of their sons is killed serving in Iraq. The three travel to Arlington and Delaware to see the body, destined for Boston. Carell's son, he is told, "died with honor serving his country."
As he mourns, his two friends learn what really happened from the soldier's best friend, a young marine escorting the body. He didn't die in battle. He was shot at a public market by a local when they went to buy soft drinks during their mission moving supplies for Iraqi schools.
After he demands to see his deceased son, he is so emotionally affected that the three decide to bring the body back home themselves, rather than let the military hold a funeral and burial.
This provides some mediocre humor in a few scenes with devious Cranston being the wild card, taking over the transportation, buying his friends their first cell phones and the three being chased by Homeland Security.
The story inspires us with the camaraderie of these three marines who survived to reminisce of their other close friend who did not. It shows the secrets of war and how our fallen heroes may have died through different circumstances than their families were told.
Such as their own friend killed in Vietnam while the other three were being irresponsible and not protecting each other. They visit his mother who thinks her son died saving them. As they sit on her couch they hide the truth. Should they reveal that her son's death may have been partly their fault or let her continue to believe what the government told her 30 years ago?
Three former Vietnam servicemen meet 30 years later in 2003 when one of their sons is killed serving in Iraq. The three travel to Arlington and Delaware to see the body, destined for Boston. Carell's son, he is told, "died with honor serving his country."
As he mourns, his two friends learn what really happened from the soldier's best friend, a young marine escorting the body. He didn't die in battle. He was shot at a public market by a local when they went to buy soft drinks during their mission moving supplies for Iraqi schools.
After he demands to see his deceased son, he is so emotionally affected that the three decide to bring the body back home themselves, rather than let the military hold a funeral and burial.
This provides some mediocre humor in a few scenes with devious Cranston being the wild card, taking over the transportation, buying his friends their first cell phones and the three being chased by Homeland Security.
The story inspires us with the camaraderie of these three marines who survived to reminisce of their other close friend who did not. It shows the secrets of war and how our fallen heroes may have died through different circumstances than their families were told.
Such as their own friend killed in Vietnam while the other three were being irresponsible and not protecting each other. They visit his mother who thinks her son died saving them. As they sit on her couch they hide the truth. Should they reveal that her son's death may have been partly their fault or let her continue to believe what the government told her 30 years ago?