ejm736
Simple and beautiful, shows how each Marine lost was more than a number in a manpower report or headline news story, they were real, Semper Fi
bobhelms
My first exposure to this movie years ago was the HBO commercial for it, and I'll be 100% honest: My expectations, knowing HBO's general political slant, were that it would be a twisted political movie in some way. I was 100% wrong. I watched this with my wife at the time, she was a former Marine who had been out for 2 years, I was still in the military. The movie doesn't really build up speed, it does not have a dramatic crescendo of action with a dazzling apex. The build up is technical, through the process of a service member who dies in combat, goes step by step, of what it takes to get the deceased back to their family. Kevin Bacon is good. No, he is VERY good. He takes on the role with the utmost reverence. The tiny nuances that were correct (That's "Marine" when he is called a "Soldier") show that there must have been at least one very good technical advisor on hand for the filming. For all my time in the military, I still learned a few new procedures that I did not know existed (and hopefully won't ever have to find out, the "slow salute" when rendering honors for the deceased as they are de-boarded from the plane).You may be able to watch the entire movie without... getting "something in your eye", I wasn't able to. Two scenes in particular: As the casket is transported in the hearse, and the lights on the cars begin to come on, one by one... and even more so, the young Army SGT, who is on board escorting a separate deceased service member home, Bacon's character asks him "Sergeant, did you know the deceased?" and the reply "Yes Sir, he was my brother". They nailed it, absolutely nailed it, it caught my breath in my throat, I remember looking over to my wife and both of us were pretty filmy eyed, a definitive moment. You will see a lot of reviews that unfortunately entirely miss the point of the movie. It is sad that there are those who believe that, unless a movie dives headlong into the political cess pool that surrounds war, unless someone is made the villain, then a movie just doesn't cut it. Others simply don't understand, they find the movie boring or without any necessary action/drama needed to give the flick a positive rating. Believe me, there is astounding drama, IF you have lived within these boots especially, or have had a loved one, son, husband, sister, mother, aunt, uncle, deployed. I love the movie, I have watched it probably half a dozen times, I try to catch it at least once every year or two. If I ever do meet Kevin Bacon, I'll likely have some questions, but I feel like I might apologize... I was so ready to be disgusted by this movie before I saw it, and I can't believe how wrong I was about both his performance and about HBO's intent. Astoundingly good movie.
fwrightson
We (wife, brother-in-law, sister-in-law) watched this moving, wonderful tribute to our fallen military men and women last night. Thankfully, it was not political. I wholeheartedly recommend this movie (I also recommend that you have a box of tissues on hand). General Kelly recently described the process that the movie tells but the movie makes it vividly clear. I salute the producers, director and actors (especially Kevin Bacon) for their excellent work. Viewing should be mandatory for all NFL players.
Kong Ho Meng
The best way to sum up this movie in a few words would be : a perfect representation of an Americanised version of Okuribito. All the features that made Okuribito stood out during the Academy can be found in this film. The beauty within all the small movements and facial emotions from every characters paying their respects to one who died for the country, the art of the mortuary from the cleaning process to the burial, the self-realisation journey of the main character while escorting a comrade back home etc.Regardless of the fact that this movie is decently made but still has room for improvement, there were several powerful moments in this film that made me ponder if it is really under rated
