Courage Under Fire

Starring: Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Lou Diamond Phillips, Matt Damon, Scott Glen, Sean Astin, Sean Patrick Thomas,
Directed by: Edward Zwick
Rating: R
Genre: War, Drama
Box Office: $59,031,057
1996

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: After a blunder in the Gulf War, a Lt. Colonel (Denzel Washington) is appointed to investigate the first woman (Meg Ryan) to ever be nominated for the Medal of Honor. The investigation reveals secrets the army never wanted revealed, and the investigator may jeopardize his own future to uncover the truth.

Review:

Tim: Anyone that knows anything about my interest in movies would probably assume I love this movie. It stars my second favorite actor, Denzel Washington, and my favorite actress, Meg Ryan. I'm not saying I am not excited about their roles, yet I do not like this film nearly as much as it would be assumed.

Denzel Washington does give a great performance as an emotionally-damaged man. His demons from the past resurface throughout the film, and you won't find a better actor for that type of role than Washington.

As far as Meg Ryan, I am very happy she decided to get away from her typical romantic-comedy roles... it's good to branch out. However, I did not like her here. She is trying far too hard to get away from her usual roles. Nearly every scene she is in she screaming in as deep of a voice as she can muster, and it comes off fake and silly.

That being said, the movie itself is decent enough. The flashbacks give an interesting look, but tend to get annoying as the film progesses. It is also too long and too slow. Take a chance with this, but I doubt you'll think it's very good.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Fallen, I.Q., Philadelphia, Kate & Leopold, The Thin Red Line, The Bone Collector, The Siege