Having read the reviews here and the DVD cover, I rented it a few days ago and watched it last night.
I expected more emotional depth than what was displayed here, the film is decently acted by the stars but the characters I found mostly unlikeable with the exception of Samantha Morton's. I found Woody Harrelson's character totally shallow and his idea of investing his job with no emotion whatsoever is ridiculous.
If this is factual then the US Army needs to rethink its approach. Rather than sending these stone faced men to notify the families and let them know they will later by visited by another officer who will help them through it, they should send grief counselling officers instead. To notify families in such a detached and wooden fashion is in poor taste when they are grief stricken and need a more sympathetic approach.
Also the fact that a Casualty notification officer would be thrown in with no training at all, and just given a short briefing for such an important role is also beyond belief. If he screws it up this will reflect very badly on the US Army !
I found the acting of Steve Buscemi in the initial scene where he is notified of his sons death totally over the top and contrived.
The best scene in the entire movie by far is the wonderfully acted sequence in which Ben Foster tries to get it on with Samantha Morton and she tells him she can't, and proceeds to tell him how she felt about her husband when they first met and how her feelings towards him changed and how he was changed by the war etc. The developing relationship Between Ben Foster & Samantha Morton was really the only thing that kept me watching up until the end and I must admit I was relieved to see the final credit roll.
If asked I would recommend it only if you have nothing better to do or watch, although this film was well acted it was definitely not worth the high praise many here have heaped on it.
I would give it 6/10 at best.
I expected more emotional depth than what was displayed here, the film is decently acted by the stars but the characters I found mostly unlikeable with the exception of Samantha Morton's. I found Woody Harrelson's character totally shallow and his idea of investing his job with no emotion whatsoever is ridiculous.
If this is factual then the US Army needs to rethink its approach. Rather than sending these stone faced men to notify the families and let them know they will later by visited by another officer who will help them through it, they should send grief counselling officers instead. To notify families in such a detached and wooden fashion is in poor taste when they are grief stricken and need a more sympathetic approach.
Also the fact that a Casualty notification officer would be thrown in with no training at all, and just given a short briefing for such an important role is also beyond belief. If he screws it up this will reflect very badly on the US Army !
I found the acting of Steve Buscemi in the initial scene where he is notified of his sons death totally over the top and contrived.
The best scene in the entire movie by far is the wonderfully acted sequence in which Ben Foster tries to get it on with Samantha Morton and she tells him she can't, and proceeds to tell him how she felt about her husband when they first met and how her feelings towards him changed and how he was changed by the war etc. The developing relationship Between Ben Foster & Samantha Morton was really the only thing that kept me watching up until the end and I must admit I was relieved to see the final credit roll.
If asked I would recommend it only if you have nothing better to do or watch, although this film was well acted it was definitely not worth the high praise many here have heaped on it.
I would give it 6/10 at best.