A Bright Shining Lie Movie Review 1998

Based on Neil Sheehan's 1988 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, which chronicles the Vietnam War as seen through the eyes of Lt. Col. John Paul Vann (Paxton). The brash Vann arrived as a military adviser to the Vietnamese Army in 1962 and eventually left that post to become part of the State Department's Civilian Aid Program, where he exposed falsified battle reports and other deceptions to newsman Steven Burnett (Logue). The complex and controversial Vann was killed in a chopper crash in 1972.

Distribution

HBO, 1100 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY 10036, Phone: (212)512-7400, Fax: (212)512-7498, URL: http://www.hbo.com, Remarks: Online sales through www.store.hbo.com

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 118 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Vietnam War, Biopics: Military

Screenplay

Terry George

Cast

Bill Paxton, Donal Logue, Kurtwood Smith, Eric Bogosian, Amy Madigan, Vivian Wu, Robert John Burke, James Rebhorn, Ed Lauter, Harve Presnell

Cinematography

Jack Conroy

Director

Terry George

Music

Gary Chang

Producer

Lois Bonfiglio, HBO Pictures