The utmost thing about this film that I admire is its portrayal of ADHD in Shawn Hatosy's character. Hatosy and writer Ron Nyswaner pinpointed many little-known characteristics of this under-considered, virtually ignored condition, such as the energy, the shocking and destructive proximity mine of a temper, and the constantly wishing and washing intentions of complete ambiguity to everyone including himself. There is even a fixation on realism in his character's incidental things, some even seeming like they may have been improvised, such as when he screams at Troy Garity and throws the plates against the wall and letting them shatter, then putting his hands indecisively and fearfully on his hips yet maintaining the infuriated grimace. This is a major plus for me, because I have never seen a character in a film who is said to have diagnosed ADHD with the exception of Dustin Hoffman's crime boss in Confidence, which is played with a nervous comic touch and a reference to his condition and hardly anything else indicative. I will always admire this film for displaying a dead-on true-to-life depiction of ADHD.
The other extreme high point of the film is Lee Pace's amazing chameleonlike performance as a transsexual. This is a straight male actor who constantly, in many moments throughout, makes us feel convinced that we are watching a pretty, completely effeminate woman. He draws a fine line of balance between his scenes of complete transformation into an coy and attractive woman and his scenes wherein he is a woman trapped in a man's body, which is also a challenge all the same. Pace and Hatosy make this film the realistic and frustratingly honest experience that it is. However, not everything is on par with these two milestone performances.
The ending is not consistent with the rest of the film, and the reason it's difficult to explain why is because it has the same ambiguity as Hatosy's character, but whether that was intentional or not, it doesn't work, because even ambiguity in film-making has to be made clear. The almost abstract way that the film leads to its intensely sad climax makes sense, and so does the denouement, but the denouement is treated like the film continually forgets to add something else important. However, the film is very low-budget, to the point where any major shot of Army activity is blatantly clear to be stock footage, because the picture, grain, and speed of the image are so obviously different from that of the rest of the film. So this makes me think that director Frank Pierson perhaps reached for techniques in pace and tone that with such limited production values were skewed.
What truly did get on my nerves a wee bit were the mannerisms and dialects of the actors in the Army, and that even includes Hatosy, and Troy Garity, whose performance as the lead is quite strong. Why wouldn't it be? It was passed on from his mother, Jane Fonda, uncle Peter, and grandpa Henry. However, they as well as a few smaller roles having this odd, stiff, insecure dialect, where they slack their jaws to one side, stiffen their gestures, and even don some sort of nasal voice.
However, Soldier's Girl is quite a strong movie overall, and I suppose it's a testament to the underestimated potential of a Showtime original movie.
The other extreme high point of the film is Lee Pace's amazing chameleonlike performance as a transsexual. This is a straight male actor who constantly, in many moments throughout, makes us feel convinced that we are watching a pretty, completely effeminate woman. He draws a fine line of balance between his scenes of complete transformation into an coy and attractive woman and his scenes wherein he is a woman trapped in a man's body, which is also a challenge all the same. Pace and Hatosy make this film the realistic and frustratingly honest experience that it is. However, not everything is on par with these two milestone performances.
The ending is not consistent with the rest of the film, and the reason it's difficult to explain why is because it has the same ambiguity as Hatosy's character, but whether that was intentional or not, it doesn't work, because even ambiguity in film-making has to be made clear. The almost abstract way that the film leads to its intensely sad climax makes sense, and so does the denouement, but the denouement is treated like the film continually forgets to add something else important. However, the film is very low-budget, to the point where any major shot of Army activity is blatantly clear to be stock footage, because the picture, grain, and speed of the image are so obviously different from that of the rest of the film. So this makes me think that director Frank Pierson perhaps reached for techniques in pace and tone that with such limited production values were skewed.
What truly did get on my nerves a wee bit were the mannerisms and dialects of the actors in the Army, and that even includes Hatosy, and Troy Garity, whose performance as the lead is quite strong. Why wouldn't it be? It was passed on from his mother, Jane Fonda, uncle Peter, and grandpa Henry. However, they as well as a few smaller roles having this odd, stiff, insecure dialect, where they slack their jaws to one side, stiffen their gestures, and even don some sort of nasal voice.
However, Soldier's Girl is quite a strong movie overall, and I suppose it's a testament to the underestimated potential of a Showtime original movie.