THE THIN RED LINE Movie Review

1998 Terrence Malick

Due to the timing of its release so close to Saving Private Ryan, Terrence Malick's war film will be compared to Steven Spielberg's, and that's unfair. Malick's is a bad, bloated film in its own right (possibly even more bloated on home video). It's also a curious choice for an individualistic filmmaker using it as a comeback to an industry that he has been away from for 20 years. Since he'd made the critically acclaimed Badlands in 1974 and Days of Heaven in 1978, Malick had virtually disappeared. When he announced his comeback with an adaptation of James Jones's massive novel, the hottest young actors in the business flocked to him. Perhaps then, it was a combination of unrealistically high expectations and too-many-cooks that brought about this disappointment.

The subject is the battle of Guadalcanal. Early on, its strategic importance is stressed—in a beefy John Travolta's only scene—but film's focus quickly narrows to the actions of a few poorly defined characters. The one who eventually becomes the most important is Pvt. Witt (James Caviezel). In an idyllic prologue filled with beautiful Polynesian children swimming in crystal waters, Witt is introduced as an AWOL soldier. Sgt. Welsh (Sean Penn) brings him back to the unit. Initially, it is tempting to see Witt and Welsh as variations on Prewitt and Warden in From Here to Eternity, but that comparison quickly breaks down. Actually, the entire structure of a conventional combat film breaks down as the script's focus wanders aimlessly among several characters, including Sgt. Keck (Woody Harrelson) and Sgt. McCron (John Savage), who goes mad.

Roughly the first half concerns the taking of a grassy ridge. An apoplectic, self-serving Col. Tall (Nick Nolte) demands a suicidal charge. Capt. Staros (Elias Koteas) is reluctant to lead it; Capt. Gaff (John Cusack) is not. When the battle is finally joined, it is presented with originality and intensity. But that intensity is watered down by Malick's penchant for pretty pictures of windblown grasses, leaves, raindrops, and tropical birds—all meant to remind us of larger concerns about fate, god, morality, nature, and such. And if the images aren't enough, Malick has several characters (at least, I think there were more than one) indulge in long voice-over meditations about the meaning of it all, not to mention Witt's woozy flashbacks about his angelic wife. These guys sound and act more like English grad students than soldiers.

The acting ranges from indifferent to effective to outrageous. When Nolte flies into a rage, it appears that every vein in his head is about to explode. But it is difficult to blame the cast of pretty boys for the lack of their characters' depth. Malick shuffles them on and off stage so quickly and without introduction that they leave no impression. They're just a bunch of guys with heavy five-o'clock shadows and steel helmets. According to pre-release publicity and a credits list that included deleted characters, a much longer version of the film exists, and Malick has hinted that the extended cut will be released on home video.

As it exists now, the film is dramatically weak and unbalanced. The single definitive moral confrontation, between Tall and Staros, is dispensed with almost as soon as it is raised. The rest meanders for another hour or so before the story comes to an appropriately inconclusive conclusion.

Cast: James Caviezel (Pvt. Witt), Adrien Brody (Cpl. Fife), Sean Penn (First Sgt. Edward Welsh), Nick Nolte (Lt. Col. Gordon Tall), John Cusack (Capt. John Gaff), George Clooney (Capt. Charles Bosche), Woody Harrelson (Sgt. Keck), Ben Chaplin (Pvt. Bell), Elias Koteas (Capt. James “Bugger” Staros), Jared Leto (Lt. Whyte), John Travolta (Brig. Gen. Quintard), Tim Blake Nelson (Pvt. Tills), John C. Reilly (Sgt. Storm), John Savage (Sgt. McCron), Arie Verveen (Pfc. Dale), David Harrod (Cpl. Queen), Thomas Jane (Pvt. Ash), Paul Gleason (First Lt. George Band), Penelope Allen (Witt's mother), Don Harvey (Becker), Shawn Hatosy (Tella), Donal Logue (Marl), Dash Mihok (Pfc. Doll), Larry Romano (Pvt. Mazzi); Written by: Terrence Malick; Cinematography by: John Toll; Music by: Hans Zimmer. Producer: Robert Michael Greisler, John Roberdeau, Grant Hill, George Stevens, Fox 2000 Pictures; released by 20th Century-Fox. Awards: New York Film Critics Awards '98: Best Director (Malick); National Society of Film Critics Awards '98: Best Cinematography; Nominations: Academy Awards '98: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Director (Malick), Best Film Editing, Best Picture, Best Sound; Directors Guild of America Awards '98: Best Director (Malick). Budget: 52M. MPAA Rating: R. Running Time: 170 minutes. Format: VHS, Closed Caption, DVD.