Courage Under Fire

An intelligently crafted motion picture. Oscar contender.

Features: Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan
Director: Edward Zwick Glory
Washington plays a Desert Storm tank commander investigating whether Ryan, a Medevac chopper pilot, should receive the Medal of Honor. Washington has his demons from things not going well during a Storm firefight. The medal is posthumous and circumstances regarding her actions don't add up as Washington investigates.

Notice how I phrased my subheading: "An intelligently crafted motion picture. Oscar contender." That pretty much sums it up. Plus it has such a thought-provoking air about it. While I do thoroughly enjoy the near-mindless action of comic book movies, it is completely refreshing to view a motion picture as Courage Under Fire. It is that good. It sweeps us into a story which is laden with action (the tank battle shows just how brutally deadly today's weapons are), but is mainly a story with excellent character development. Courage explores a grand theme: just what constitutes heroism. And it does not shirk from an answer either.

The plot revolves with the Rashamon recountings that Washington gets from the vets' accounts of Ryan's firefight. Ryan piloted a Medevac Huey which came to the rescue of a downed chopper. Ryan's copter is shot down and the mystery revolves over just what happened during the night and the ensuing morning.

Ryan's role is pivotal, yet little more than a cameo. She has to act certain ways during the same key sequences as they are recalled by those who survive--one says she was GI Josephine, another paints her as crying coward.

Washington has the role all actor's would kill. His character is the anti-thesis to his submarine officer in Crimson Tide. Here he is physically puffy, not a lean submarine-controlling machine. Here he is not at all in control of his actions, versus having ten answers at the tips of his fingers for any one situation in Tide.

Washington wants to be exorcised for the demons he carries from Desert Storm, but the chain of command is looking another direction. What Washington does with his character as he develops thru the story is something to behold. American movies just don't have (unfortunately) this kind of character development anymore. Thankfully there are exceptions and Courage Under Fire is in the theaters as one of them.

Given the poor quality of movies which have opened so far, I'd say Courage is a safe bet in the Best Picture and Best Actor categories. It's that good--not a movie, but a motion picture.

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