Director John Irving is known for his love of thin storylines, and this movie is no exception.
However this time he does dig a little deeper into human psychology, doing a competent job of portraying a dutiful coward, a soldier willing to be sent home. Cowardice or reasonable thought ? The end is dealt with in typical Irving fashion. We're left with an upending question on redemption.
Filming is your typical Irving fare, you get a generous dose of his peculiar love for pseudo-documentary realism. A deranged paintball gamer's dream of hell, with live ammo, exhilarating explosions, limbs flying, discarded ammo cases, burning vehicles and broken trees. You can feel the mud.
The duel between an artillery gun and a flame thrower is worth the watch. "War porn" at its best.
In was in the mood for that kind of movie today. Irving is a sure bet in this category. Hence my generous rating.
=== Ratings should be subdivided into categories. "When Trumpets Fade" would surely get a 1 star rating in the category "Best Movies of all Times", yet, John Irving being the Russ Meyer of war flicks, I would give it a 10 in a "War Porn Movies" category.
However this time he does dig a little deeper into human psychology, doing a competent job of portraying a dutiful coward, a soldier willing to be sent home. Cowardice or reasonable thought ? The end is dealt with in typical Irving fashion. We're left with an upending question on redemption.
Filming is your typical Irving fare, you get a generous dose of his peculiar love for pseudo-documentary realism. A deranged paintball gamer's dream of hell, with live ammo, exhilarating explosions, limbs flying, discarded ammo cases, burning vehicles and broken trees. You can feel the mud.
The duel between an artillery gun and a flame thrower is worth the watch. "War porn" at its best.
In was in the mood for that kind of movie today. Irving is a sure bet in this category. Hence my generous rating.
=== Ratings should be subdivided into categories. "When Trumpets Fade" would surely get a 1 star rating in the category "Best Movies of all Times", yet, John Irving being the Russ Meyer of war flicks, I would give it a 10 in a "War Porn Movies" category.