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DePalma's "Redacted" ... Let me know how it turns out.

Posted by halfnote (A) on November 14, 2007 at 20:58:00

Came on 10:15pm in HD. By 11:00 I cashed in my chips and turned on the stereo.

Since I haven't seen the entire film, I am only qualified to comment on the first 40 minutes or so. In a word, sophmoric tripe masquerading as a high-minded reproof of the American Military.

I heard all the advanced criticism of the film, it's detractors claiming it was anti-American, a slap in the face of our military, unpatriotic, etc., etc. ...

In consideration of DePalma's great talents, I wanted to give the film a chance. It soon became quite obvious that many of the critics were justified in excoriating this obvious, low-budget, hastily concocted, shallow diatribe.

I say again, I didn't see the rest of the movie. Perhaps there is a twist or an ironic perspective, wholly absent from the first 45 minutes of the film, that redeems it. Perhaps it turns into an uproarious slapstick comedy with dancing girls -- a more likely possibility! I am guessing that, as with soup, you needn't see the bottom of the bowl to know that no chef's hats will be forthcoming.

I summarize briefly:

A US Military Checkpoint on an access road in Iraq is populated by a goon squad of whining, incompetent, and self-absorbed yahoos (and this, it seems clear, makes them quintessentially American soldiers) who machine gun a car carrying a laboring pregnant woman to hospital, luridly grope robed Arab women who need to be frisked at the checkpoint, fail to take notice that a truckload of furniture has been dumped alongside the checkpoint during the night, and ... well, you get the picture.

Here is all subtlety of a soap opera, an obviousness that almost insults one's intelligence.

Of course, I heard a bit of what the film was about before I got the opporutnity to watch it. I was prepared for and expecting a nuanced exploration the perils that military action poses to our psyche and humanity. What unfolded before me was Animal House with guns and blood.

The film's much publicized climax seemed to loom more like a foregone conclusion, like the big food fight, than a date with dramatic destiny.

But, hey, let me know how it turns out. I could be wrong.

Edits: 11/14/07

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