ggraziano Reviews

Antwone Fisher (2002)

This film delivers the goods

[18 November 2003]

My God, we should all have such a debut! This film has so much heart. It is the story of how much cruelty can be visited on an innocent child, yet that child grows into someone who can be a good person with a little help. Denzel is that help, even though he needs a little help himself. Bottom line: this is a powerful story of overcoming rage and becoming a fuctioning person, and you'd better have a big box of tissues on hand for the ending.

There literally is no weak point in this movie. Casting, acting, & directing are perfect. This is a 12 on a scale of 10. You need to have major tests if you don't cry your eyes out by the end. You could be declared dead!

We Were Soldiers (2002)

Mixed feelings

[16 June 2003]

We Were Soldiers is not for the squeamish. It ranks up there with Saving Private Ryan for realistically showing the brutality of war. I was moved almost beyond description by the ordeal these 390-odd US Army Air Cav soldiers endured at the hands of thousands of Viet Cong troops. It is as close to Hell as one could get on earth--a charnel house of horrors, where death is sudden and swift. Mel Gibson and Sam Elliot lead a group of green recruits into the Valley Of Death on an impossible mission in the early days of our involvement in Vietnam.

Based on actual events in 1965, this was the first major involvement of US troops and North Vietnamese regulars. The writing, directing, and acting are first rate, and the battle scenes are too real for comfort. What really makes the mind reel is that after the slaughter depicted in this film, Mel's character Lt. Col. Hal Moore goes back to the valley of death for more than 200 days. The American dead are listed on 3 East of the Vietnam Memorial Wall. I stood at attention and cried when the names of the fallen were listed at the end of the film. You will, too.