The War Movie Review 1994

Post-Vietnam war drama, set in 1970 Mississippi, centers on a children's battle over a treehouse but becomes a sermon on love, death, family values, pacifism, and the physical and spiritual wounds of war. After helping son Stu (Wood) and daughter Lidia (Randall) build their treehouse, troubled Vietnam vet Stephen Simmons (Costner) tries to coax Stu to make peace with the bullies trying to take it over. However cliched, director Avnet allows a talented cast of kids to thoughtfully express a child's view of the world but gosh-darn-it the preachy tone can get down-right annoying.

Distribution

Universal Studios Home Video, 100 Universal City Plz., Universal City, CA 91608-9955, Phone: (818)777-1000, Fax: (818)866-1483, URL: http://www.universalstudios.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 126 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Childhood Visions, Family Ties, Period Piece: 1970s, American South, Veterans, Childhood Visions, Vietnam War

Screenplay

Kathy McWorter

Cast

Elijah Wood, Kevin Costner, Lexi (Faith) Randall, Mare Winningham, Christine Baranski, Bruce A. Young, Gary Basaraba, Raynor Scheine, Nick Searcy

Cinematography

Geoffrey Simpson

Director

Jon Avnet

Music

Thomas Newman

Producer

Jon Avnet, Jordan Kerner, Eric Eisner, Todd Baker, Mark Huffam