Casualties of War
Director: Brian De Palma
Year Released: 1989
Rating: 2.5
It's based on a true story: a group of soldiers in Vietnam kidnap a young girl, rape her, torture her and then kill her. Sean Penn plays the leader of the squad while Michael J. Fox plays the voice of reason. While this may be riveting material, it doesn't quite come off in the film ... after walking away from it, I didn't think much of it (De Palma is more of a stylist than a 'thinker'). Fox is okay as the good guy, but Penn really seems to overdo it (he sounds and acts a lot like Elvis). Fox's moral decision at the end of the film isn't well scripted, either ... the film simply ends, and that's that.
