G.I. Jane (1997) review

Texas Senator Lillian DeHaven (Anne Bancroft) demands that more females are given the opportunity to compete with men in the U.S. military, so Lieutenant Jordan O'Neil (Demi Moore), an intel officer, is recruited to undergo grueling Navy SEAL-type training (where apparently 60% of candidates quit), and she has to try and earn the respect of her peers (who don't want her there) and their instructor, Master Chief Urgayle (Viggo Mortensen).  Director Scott goes overboard with both the training sequences (there's lots of shouting, heavy rain and mud) and the scenes where Moore does one-armed push-ups (with moody lighting), the handling of gender politics is clumsy and the conclusion is ludicrous (a combat situation in Libya), but it does deserve a tiny bit of credit for at least attempting to address the issue of "female empowerment" in the armed forces (while ignoring that there's an ongoing problem with sexual assaults).  The male soldiers don't really change throughout, so Moore's character has to essentially "lose" her womanhood in order to "triumph": she shaves her head, ceases menstruating, physically fights with Urgayle and is (falsely) accused of engaging in lesbian activities (despite having a boyfriend that no one knows about).  Moore has called it her "proudest professional achievement," although I would argue she's better in St. Elmo's Fire, Ghost and Disclosure.