#david rabe

[dare-g]

Books 31-40 of the year 📖!

[davidhudson]

Happy 85th, David Rabe.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Casualties of War (1989)

The first time I saw Casualties of War, I didn’t think much of it, but the story did stick with me. Upon a rewatch, my opinion on it has changed. The film isn't exactly the kind anyone could say they “like” but it kept me engaged and emotionally, it's effective.

Based on the true story of “Incident on Hill 192”, Max Eriksson (Michael J. Fox) is one of many young soldiers sent to Vietnam. After the demoralizing death of one of their comrades, his squad members (Sean Penn as Sergeant Tony Meserve; John C. Reilly as PFC Herbert Hatcher; John Leguizamo as Private Antonio Diaz and Don Patrick Harvey as Corporal Thomas E. Clark) decide they will need someone to provide "entertainment" on their next mission. They kidnap a young woman (played by Thuy Thu Le) and bring her along. The film follows their decision to go ahead with the crime and Eriksson’s struggle to get the group prosecuted afterwards.

Directed by Brian De Palma, Casualties of War makes you understand how and why these events transpired without excusing them. It would be easy for us to condemn Fox’s character for not doing enough to stop the kidnapping and rapes that followed, but when you see things in action, not so much. The film feels like a microcosm of everything that was wrong about Vietnam: the fact that it was a war basically doomed to be lost by the Americans, that the participants were not properly trained or equipped for the trauma of combat and that they probably shouldn't have even been there in the first place. The soldiers in this film are not heroes and the action scenes make you feel grimy afterwards. This makes it a successful war film because it never glorifies armed conflict.

The film is split into two and unfortunately, the first is much more intense than the second. Even though you know what is about to happen under the orders of Sergeant Meserve, you’re still sweating bullets. When Meserve's determination to see things through becomes clear, you pray that the company will come under fire and that the woman will either escape or die so that everything just comes to an end. This is exactly how Eriksson feels. There are crushing moments of defeat as he attempts to do the right thing and then fails. If you weren't determined to see things all the way through to find out what happened initially, you will be now.

During the second half of the picture, Eriksson seeks justice for what happened. You feel a different brand of stress as his efforts are continuously impaired. It isn’t bad, but it’s nowhere near the same level as before, making you wish the story had been restructured to maintain the intensity.

Another criticism I have concerns the casting of Michael J. Fox. He isn’t bad in the role, but he’s an obvious choice. His boyish looks make it clear that out of everyone involved, he’s going to be the one that speaks out and this robs the film of something. Compare him to Sean Penn, whose performance covers a complete spectrum. He can be calm, collected and “normal” as well as frightening and psychopathic.

You would never watch Casualties of War for fun. There’s nothing enjoyable about it save for the performances and filmmaking but that’s deliberate. I'd even say it's appropriate considering the subject matter. As a film that deals with a shameful passage that is the Vietnam War, it'll stop you dead cold. (Unrated version on DVD, January 19, 2018)

[90smovies]

[purelypacino]

"No, I never did [shoot up]. That is when we [my closest friends and I] started separating. We were going into other worlds. I would say my mother kept me alive. I didn't go for the needle at all. I never cared for drugs, because I saw what they did to most people. I thought that was the end of the road. I liked booze every once in a while. I was doing that when I was thirteen—the way most young guys do. You would get the guy on the street to buy you a bottle because he was older. Drinking and smoking grass were a part of my life as far back as I can remember. I thought everybody drank. I started smoking cigarettes around nine. I chewed tobacco when I was ten. I smoked a pipe at eleven." - Al outlines his now-kicked habits to Larry Grobel in 1979. • 1972 photo by Dirck Halstead taken during rehearsals for The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel.

[edharrisdaily]

Ed Harris with co-stars Gary Oldman and Robin Wright on the set of State of Grace (1990) alongside writer David Rabe and director Phil Joanou.

[genevieveetguy]

Wouldn't it be funny if I went to Harvard, you went to Jail and we both ended up surrounded by crooks.

The Firm, Sydney Pollack (1993)

[gregorygalloway]

David Rabe (born Dubuque, IA, 10 March 1940)