Courage Under Fire (2007, Blu-ray Disc)

Akira Kurosawa's Roshamon used the trick of having the same tale presented from different points of view, thus both obfuscating the truth, and illuminating it.
Before Kurosawa, Chaucer used the same gimmick. The Bible uses it too, although inadvertently, during the tale of the crucifixion.

Edward Zwick's Courage Under Fire uses this structure beautifully, to examine the confusion and horror of modern warfare.

Denzel Washington (Devil in a Blue Dress, Fallen) plays an army colonel who fired on, and killed his own men during a confused battle situation. While his fate is being decided he is sent to investigate the death of Captain Karen Walden (Meg Ryan), the first woman nominated for the medal of honor for combat.

Washington is facing his own demons: new found drinking, guilt, and estrangement from his family. As he follows the trail of investigation we are shown Walden's story in flashback.

Each narrator gives their own, varied and unreliable version. Each time we see the events of the fateful night a new layer of lies is added, and a new layer of truth comes through.

One member of Walden's crew draws her as the most courageous, hard nosed soldier ever to strap on boots. Another describes her as a coward, incapable of leading in a battle situation. A third can barely speak of the incident, he is heavily drugged and rapidly dying.

In the end we see that all the versions contained some truth, and many lies.

The story itself would probably collapse under its own weight, were it not for the remarkable performances by Washington, Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting, Dogma), and Lou Diamond Phillips, who is surprisingly good as a mid-level heavy.

Damon is impressive. His character has become a junky, haunted by the events he witnessed, and was a part of. Damon plays the flashback scenes with the round, full face we are used to. He seems to have lost a remarkable amount of weight for the later scenes. He manages to carry himself like a wounded man, the ghost of a child.


Ms. Ryan does a good job of portraying the same woman, undergoing the same events several ways. My major complaint with her performance is that although her character is a Kansan, she speaks with a pronounced, deep Texas Drawl. Her speech is much too slow and twangy for the sunflower state. We Kansans talk like every character on every sitcom; ours is the accent TV uses to unify a nation of different dialects.

Other than that minor distraction, Ryan is perfect for the role. I expected her to be soft, and pretty, as she has been in so many other movies. However, she comes accross as strong, and commanding.

Michael Moriarty (Report to the commisioner), and Scott Glen (Backdraft) have pivotal supporting roles, and are both quite good.

The film really falls apart at the end. Both endings are forced and unrealistic. Washington's sudden recovery from his personal hell happens much too fast, without the requisite pain such events would cause.
For some reason the film makers refused to give this movie the difficult, sad ending it deserved, and had earned.

In the end Courage Under Fire is an interesting movie, nearly destroyed by a weak ending.