by andy_g » Sun Jan 17, 2010 2:13 pm
watched 'redacted' last night. after watching generation kill and jarheads people had said that it was the final piece of the 'holy trinity' of gritty, true to life iraqi war dramas which were closely based on real events.
the truth is that it's actually pretty krap. i had high hopes seeing as it was brian de palma as he usually knows what he's doing, but in this case his experimental theatrical style really doesn't work. the characters and dialogue are stereotypical at best and completely unbelievable at worst, and the main incident of the film is handled really clumsily.
the one good thing the film does, which others do better still, is reinforces the idea that the majority of these marines really don't know what they are doing, and are completely out of their depth in the culture and situation they have been placed in. a lot of the events that emerge from this are horrific, tragic and avoidable but in the majority of cases are the outcomes from situations in which the lack of understanding and lack of preparation are criminal.

Get up! everybody's gonna move their feet
Get Down! everybody's gonna leave their seat