Los Angles Times | People | Andre Mandel | The Movie Connection
Taut 'Courage Under Fire' Chases Elusive War Truths
By KENNETH TURAN, TIMES FILM CRITIC Friday July 12,1996
We know their names as well as we know our own: honesty, bravery, a sense of decency. They're the virtues we insist we honor most and they're also the most difficult to portray on screen without plunging into sentimentality, without making those who possess them look naive or absurd or both.
"Courage Under Fire" avoids those traps and several others. Intelligent, involving and serious, it is as honestly emotional as Hollywood allows itself to get, a story of the search for wartime truth whose own concern for the genuine makes all the difference.
Because it is a studio picture, "Courage Under Fire" has the overall tidiness, the urge to dot the I's and cross the Ts, that typifies projects that have attracted director Edward Zwick ("Glory," "Legends of the Fall") and screenwriter Patrick Sheane Duncan (the unfortunate "Mr. Holland's Opus").
But here both men (Duncan, himself a combat veteran, was given an uncredited assist by Susan Shilliday) have pushed past business as usual, have insisted on a level of believability and evenhandedness that adroitly camouflages the story's more schematic elements.
Though publicity images hint otherwise, "Courage Under Fire's" two stars, Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan, do not share screen time. But their joined strengths, the authenticity of their performances, gives the film's dramatization of moral and ethical dilemmas an objective edge that also touches the heart.
Washington plays Lt. Col. Nathaniel Serling, a tank commander in the Gulf War. In a frenetic, confusing battle at a spot called Al Bathra (a sequence whose chaos makes the concept of friendly fire understandable), Serling gives an order that mistakenly results in the death of his closest friend.
Transferred back to a desk job in Washington, prevented from speaking publicly about the incident, Serling is a good man in a moral crisis. Assured that he won't be abandoned by the service he's given 17 years to, the colonel's commitment to doing the right thing makes his mistake almost unbearably painful. He starts to develop a drinking problem and though he tells his wife, Meredith (Regina Taylor), that he's handling things, we can see that he's not.
As good as Washington has been previously--few actors have been as consistently effective--there is a sense in "Courage Under Fire" that he has raised his acting to a new plane of emotional connection. Washington's ability to quietly but forcefully convey intangibles like integrity and a sense of mission help make this an inordinately moving and sophisticated performance.
The colonel's troubles, however, are only the backdrop to "Courage Under Fire's" main drama. For that routine desk job, investigating possible candidates for the Medal of Honor, becomes anything but pro forma.
Assigned to determine whether the death in battle of Medevac helicopter pilot Capt. Karen Walden (Ryan) warrants the medal, Serling finds himself under intense political pressure. For the president's men are eager for the opportunity to present the medal to the photogenic young daughter of what would be the first woman to get this preeminent combat decoration.
At first Serling's investigation turns up the expected minor discrepancies. But the more he looks into what happened at that remote desert location, the more the incident takes on aspects of "Rashomon" in a helicopter, as each survivor remembers things with a significantly different spin. And the uncertainty the colonel feels over his own situation, his desire to believe in heroes vying with his determination to have the truth come out, seep into the investigation.
Though she's seen only in abbreviated flashbacks, the role of Walden is critical because reconstructing her character is "Courage's" central concern. With a hard Texas twang and the determination to lead that is resented as "butch," Walden is not an easy role to play well and Meg Ryan brings to it skill plus the critical residue of accumulated likability that serves her well in the film's darker moments.
"Courage" also benefits from the strength of its supporting players. Lou Diamond Phillips gives an intense, focused performance as Monfriez, a crew member with an essential piece of information, and Scott Glenn adds believability to the standard sequences of a probing Washington Post reporter. Just as impressive is Michael Moriarty, rarely seen in features these days, who gives a convincing spin to the often pro forma role of the powerful commanding officer, Gen. Hershberg.
Though, unlike "Rashomon," we eventually do find out what happened on that helicopter, it is to Zwick and the script's credit that the film never tips its hand. Each of the several looks we get at Walden's actions is creditable while on the screen and it is hard to ask for more than that.
And while its re-creation of combat is not "Courage Under Fire's" most involving aspect, the film succeeds in making the Gulf War seem more of a real event than all the footage shipped back on CNN could. And it also points out, without seeming to try, that if war has the potential to bring out the best in individuals, it does so at the most terrible price.
Copyright 1996 / The Los Angeles Times
Andre Mandel | The Movie Connection
At last, a decent summer movie with big-name stars but no flying cows, exploding chewing gum or invading aliens. Not that smashing special effects aren't cool. It's just that Courage Under Fire, while reconnoitering some previous military movie terrain, demonstrates the potency of a film that's well acted and directed and tells a solid story.
To wit:An Army officer (Washington) relentlessly searches out the truth about what happened the night a medical-evacuation pilot (Ryan) and her crew got trapped behind enemy lines during the Gulf War. The pilot, who died in action, has been nominated for a posthumous Medal of Honor, but as Washington interviews the men who served under her, he finds worrisome discrepancies in their accounts of the episode. (The movie, tipping its helmet to Rashomon, shows each survivor's differing version in flashback.) What gives the story its greater resonance is the fact that Washington is a man questioning his own honor, having mistakenly given an order to fire on his own men during the Gulf War.
Washington is excellent, nicely underplaying his big scenes and ably conveying a righteous man currently ill at ease with himself. Ryan, seen only in the flashbacks, is convincingly gritty and shows nary a trace of her usual cuteisms. In supporting roles as members of Ryan's crew, Phillips and, especially, Damon are standouts. One caveat: Although Courage is unfailingly intelligent, it's never quite as moving as you suspect that director Ed Zwick (Glory) thinks it is. The script is too schematic, its pieces fitting together like Lincoln Logs. Still, while most of this summer's blockbusters appeal to the kid in us, this one rewards the adult.
(R) -- LEAH ROZEN
Los Angles Times | Andre Mandel
Courage Under Fire is a well-plotted, well-balanced drama about a military investigation that could lead to the awarding of the first Medal of Honor for a woman in a combat situation. Denzel Washington plays Lt. Colonel Nathaniel Serling, the officer charged with conducting the investigation. Meg Ryan plays Captain Karen Walden, an officer who reportedly gave her life in the line of duty and was been nominated for the Medal posthumously. Set during the Gulf War, Courage Under Fire focuses intensely on its two main characters, who never actually meet. Although a fictional story, it is, nevertheless, a powerful tale of moral fortitude.
Col. Serling, who returned from Saudi Arabia six months ago, stands accused of destroying a tank in his own division during combat in the Middle East. Although he likely won t receive more than a slap on the wrist because of extenuating circumstances, he is relegated to administrative duty until the dust clears. General Hershberg (Michael Moriarity), his commanding officer, gives the still-stressed Colonel the intriguing, but undemanding, assignment of determining whether or not Captain Walden deserves the Medal of Honor. Serling s investigation leads him in several directions as he tracks down the various members of Walden s military unit. Their stories, with the exception of the one given by Monfriez (Lou Diamond Phillips), are generally quite positive although seemingly insignificant details occasionally conflict.
Courage Under Fire is a great piece of film making and the best to hit theaters so far this year. It stands in stark contrast to the escapist fare that is clogging up most multiplexes these days. You can bet that it will be remembered come Oscar time.
Directed by Edward Zwick from "Glory" and "Legends of the Fall" fame and starring Denzel Washington, you knew this film was going to be one of quality. Throw in Meg Ryan and a brash, young Lou Diamond Phillips along with an interesting war plot and you might just get an Oscar contender. We'll have to wait and see about that, though.
This film revolves around Denzel Washington as Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling. He returns from the Gulf War after being involved in a hush-hushed friendly-fire incident and is appointed the job of reviewing soldier's anecdotes of what happened one night in the Middle East to keep him busy and his own incident under the rug. These stories are of a courageous and seemingly fearless woman who was said to have saved a group of soldier's lives under adverse and hostile conditions. Serling's job is to find out whether or not this woman deserves the distinguished Medal of Honor. The woman's name is Captain Karen Walden (Meg Ryan) and if she wins this coveted medal, it will be the first ever won by a woman, despite being posthumous. Tony Gartner (Scott Glenn) is a reporter for the Washington Post and is asking more questions about the story than Serling would like. Gartner is also trying to uncover what happened in the friendly-fire incident despite the Government's attempts to keep it quiet.
Serling must deal with the conflicting stories of a heroin-shooting medic, a cocky young soldier named Monfriez (Lou Diamond Phillips), and a dying trooper who can barely stay alive long enough to tell his side of the story. Serling is determined to find out the truth for the sake of finding solace from his own hellish experiences in the Gulf. As you watch this film, look for the parallels between Monfriez and Serling and you will see that one is just a more unfortunate version of the other.
The way the movie was set up surprised me. I was expecting a day-to-day account of what happened in the Gulf War. Instead, the film is a series of flashbacks to the war, showing different people's accounts of what really happened one terrible night. Unfortunately, this makes the film less exciting... and yet more realistic. The opening scene of the movie in which the friendly-fire incident is shown is one of excitement and drama. Other than that scene, the war is shown in a brutal and hellish way... much like it probably was. This style reminded me very much of the battle scenes in "Glory"- not fun and exciting, but the truth.
Cheers to Denzel Washington's return to serious films unlike
"Virtuosity". "Devil in a Blue Dress",
"Crimson Tide" and "Courage Under Fire" are
all commendable films which fit in well with the better end of
his resume which includes greats like "Philadelphia"
and "Malcolm X". I hope he continues this drama path
rather than the stupid action hero path he almost took. Also, Lou
Diamond Phillips gives a great performance in the first movie of
his I've seen since La Bamba (sorry, I missed Young Guns).
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