Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

LeonLouisRicci There is a strong Story here as an investigation ensues about a potential Medal of Honor recipient and the mysterious conflict of testimonies. It is given a twist with a shot of estrogen as the Soldier involved is the first Female to possibly (Posthumously) be awarded the Nation's Highest Military Honor.That should be enough to make this a riveting Mystery and through flashbacks we are shown some striking battle Scenes. So why add the conflict and strife to the investigating Officer. It is completely unnecessary and is the weakest part of the Film and almost drags it down with unconvincing situations of Combat guilt and Family Dysfunction. That could be a whole other Movie. But with that bloating aside there are some strong Performances by the young Cast (actually outshining Denzel) in supporting Roles as the Combat Unit in question. There is a back Story to everyone and it holds up quite well with the central Theme. It must be mentioned here that although, Meg Ryan is miscast as the Captain, she tries her best but cannot outgrow her limitations and convince as a tough Girl in a hopeless, self sacrificing situation.Overall, not a bad Movie and is worth a watch for the strong parts, but there is much too much padding here, plus the heavy dose of sentimentality finally drags this down from Great Movie to just above Average.

jc-osms A strong contemporary war drama examining issues of loyalty, protocol, duty and ultimately truth in an unusually constructed film within a film, at the same using multiple viewpoints ( a la "Rashomon" or "Accident") to unfold the complicated truth at its heart. I'm not sure the somewhat contrived structure served the serious subject matter wholly convincingly, the cinematic devices detracting somewhat from the otherwise lifelike depiction of action in the Gulf War. I also thought Denzel Washington's framing role as the senior army officer given the seemingly straightforward task of reporting on the apparently automatic eligibility of Meg Ryan's posthumous award of the Army medal of honour detracted from the central mystery, especially as he wrestles with his own demons after unwittingly being involved in a tragic friendly-fire incident of his own. So Denz fights the bottle and walks out on his family, before uncovering the truth about Ryan's death and the way back to his own redemption.This final resolution and the underlying implication that the US Army welcomes openness is firstly too pat and improbable, especially in the wake of some real-life events that have come to light since then. All that said, the dramatisation of the war is very well realised and the acting is of a high order, Washington giving it strong and silent in a commanding lead role, but there are even better performances from a young Matt Damon and Lou Diamond-Phillips as two of Ryan's crew who survive the ordeal physically but not mentally.Ryan does well too and I was also impressed by the actress in the menial task of playing Washington's wife. Yes, the film ends up as you'd expect, replete with Washington's last respectful visit to Ryan's grave, but there was enough intrigue and grit in the tale to keep me watching throughout. A braver take on the story, inverting some of the discovered truths here might have made for a better film though, but of course there's no way that viewpoint would have been green-lighted in Hollywood.

Momcat_of_Lomita When this movie came out, we were just 5 years past Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait and Iraq, and the 9/11/01 attack on the World Trade Center was 5 years in the future. I think that's important to remember when watching this movie, because it does refer to events in Iraq and things are very different now than they were then.Anyway: the plot of the movie is very simple. The pilot of a medic-evac helicopter that flew into a combat area to rescue the crew of another helicopter, one that had been downed by enemy fire, is killed during the rescue effort after also being downed by enemy fire.Because the pilot's actions saved the crews of both helicopters from attack by Iraqis until a rescue mission could be mounted, the pilot is being considered for posthumous award of the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest award given by the military services for valorous action under combat conditions.The twist in this movie: the pilot being considered for the award is a woman, Captain Karen Walden (played by Meg Ryan), which would make her the first female combat veteran so honored.Denzel Washington plays the role of Lt. Colonel Nat Serling, himself a Desert Storm veteran, who has been tasked by his commanding officer, General Hershberg (Michael Moriarity) with investigation of the circumstances surrounding Captain Walden's death to determine whether her actions qualify her for the honor of receiving the Medal of Honor.Much is made of the fact that it would be a wonderful public-relations thing if Captain Walden receives the award. The pressure is on Serling to complete his investigation quickly and to affirm the circumstances of Walden's heroism so the President can make the award to Walden's family (she has a little daughter, who is raised by her parents, the father of her child evidently being some sort of deadbeat who bailed on his wife and child very early).Serling is fighting his own demons relating to something that happened under his command in Iraq, something we are shown bit by bit in a series of flashbacks. As played by Washington, we get the impression of a man who is barely hanging on as he represses anger and self-loathing. He's withdrawing emotionally from his wife and kids and self-medicating with alcohol to the point where General Hershberg is ready to come down hard on him if Serling doesn't get this investigation done quickly and without causing problems.And therein lies the kick: Serling very quickly discovers that there are inconsistencies in the statements of the men who were in the helicopter with Captain Walden when it went down. It also becomes very quickly evident that there is something about what happened after the helicopter went down that the men do not want to talk about.And that sets up the rest of the action in this movie. Serling has to dig out the problem while coming to terms with his own issues and trying to do justice to the memories of those killed in Iraq-- and that doesn't just mean the lady helicopter pilot.Washington is superb in this role, and this movie is much more about him than it is about Meg Ryan's character. In fact, I think people who watch this movie thinking that it's going to be about Meg Ryan's character are probably going to be disappointed. While she's good when she's on screen, her performance isn't a standout. Washington's is.Two other performances really need to be mentioned: Lou Diamond Phillips, who plays Staff Sergeant John Monfriez, and Matt Damon, who plays Medical Specialist Ilario. Both were on Captain Walden's helicopter when it went down. Monfriez went as the door gunner, and it quickly becomes clear that he did not like Captain Walden and that he wants to discourage Serling from asking questions about what happened after the helicopter went down. Ilario likewise doesn't want to talk to Serling; but where Monfriez becomes menacing when Serling confronts him, Ilario goes AWOL.Damon and Phillips are absolutely key in making this plot work, and they both deliver the goods powerfully and believably.In the end, the problems of the investigation and Serling's personal demons are both put to an end, and not necessarily in the way that the powers-that-be would like to have seen things turn out. Let's just say that the search for truth is successful.This is a must-see movie for Denzel Washington fans and works as a psychological whodunnit. It's also rewarding for people who admire the work of Matt Damon and Lou Diamond Phillips. The ending is upbeat enough to make most people happy. This is a very watchable movie as a character study, too. It isn't light entertainment, but if you want an interesting and thoughtful movie in the "war is hell" genre with a stellar performance from Washington and superb supporting performances from Damon and Phillips, this is it.

KineticSeoul Okay so the main reason why I decided to see this movie is cause Edward Zwick directed it since I liked "The Last Samurai". Much better film than "Avatar" hands down. This is one of those feel good movies and that is fine, but it's just not that gripping or touching for that matter. The plot is basically about Nat Serling(Denzel Washington) who is Lt Col a Desert Storm veteran that is going through a guilt trip for accidentally killing one of the guy on his team. And while this is going on he is assigned a task to investigate if Capt Karen Walden(played by Meg Ryan) deserves a medal of honor, since she would be the first woman to receive it. But there is some sort of conspiracy and things just keep getting deeper and deeper. So yeah it's one of those patriotic feel good movies, but I found most of it dull and sort of boring. It just wasn't a very interesting film, I didn't even think the film left a big impact or was that powerful as some reviewers claim it to be. It just didn't seem to worth that much in the end and felt like it was mainly about American heroism but just wasn't that powerful.5/10