The Thin Red Line Review
by "Berge Garabedian" (drsuess AT microtec DOT net)February 7th, 1999
THE THIN RED LINE
RATING: 6.5 / 10 --> So-so
For more reviews and movie trivia, visit http://www.joblo.com/
This film could also have been titled "Deep Thoughts" by Terrence Malick. The recluse director, who actually beats fellow recluse director Stanley Kubrick in the number of years elapsed between movies (Malick's last film was 20 years ago, while Kubrick's only dates back 13), returns to Hollywood with a solid cast of names, and an attempt to recapture his brilliance from BADLANDS and DAYS OF HEAVEN.
PLOT:
This film takes place in the Second World War during the Battle of Guadalcanal. We specifically follow a set of soldiers as they attempt to break the Japanese stronghold on a giant hill, while listening to their words of wisdom, and breathing in the lush scenery.
CRITIQUE:
This film may just be the best-looking movie of the year. It may also contain a solid cast of actors, effective tension when required, and a life-like feel of being in the bush with the boys. Unfortunately for this 170-minute, overdone, ode to philosophical poetry, this movie just doesn't muster up enough real interest, plot development or character attachment, for anyone to give too much of a crap about its existential insights. There is a reoccurring narration that permeates the entire movie as the supposed thoughts of the soldiers, which is supposed to make us ponder life, death and everything in between. All it did for me was tinker the strings of boredom, as the long pauses between the words had me losing track of most of what was said, and feel like I was at a poetry hearing, instead of a movie theater. The last third of the film is especially guilty of this offense, as the director seemed to have overdosed on his own indulgences, and simply shot exquisite sceneries, and inserted scattered scenes of the boys and their apres-winning shenanigans. "Too many vague queries, and not enough developed thoughts make JoBlo a very uninterested boy."
Acting-wise, this movie is rock-solid, with the lesser named actors pulling off the best gigs, as Jim Caviezel, Adrien Brody, Ben Chaplin and Elias Koteas stole the show from the rest of the big names. Within the better known clique, Nick Nolte jerked off an effective Colonel Tall, with his grimy impression of a man who lived to bark out orders and thrived on adversity. And if you're actually thinking of checking into this movie, in the hopes of seeing your favorite actor, John Travolta or George Clooney, in action, then I suggest you think thrice about your move, cause they respectively carry five and one minute screen times in this ocular air-wafer. All in all, I would say that this film is a visual pearl caught up in a masturbatory web of overly-profound drivel, which is meant to stimulate the mind, but ultimately stretches itself too long, and into indifference. Having said that, the first couple of hours are pretty good, notably the tense-filled "battle for the hill", and actors solid. So if you're in the mood for Kierkegaard, I guess this movie might be your prescribed trip, as long as you don't forget to bring your weed, beret and "thinker" glasses :)
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars:
Actors Lukas Haas and Bill Pullman respectively played the roles of "Newcomer" and Supply Sgt. MacTae in this film, before their scenes were deleted by the director during the editing process.
After 1978's DAYS OF HEAVEN, director Terrence Malick apparently split his time between Paris and Texas, supporting himself with lucrative, although uncredited, screenwriting assignments. One such assignment had him helping out the "wonder twins", Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, on their Oscar-winning script for GOOD WILL HUNTING (7.5/10). Malick went to St. Stephen's high school in Austin, Texas, where he played football, and then to Harvard. He was a Rhodes Scholar. In his contract for directing this film, he stated that no current pictures of him could be published or shown anywhere. It took the producers ten years to get this story to film. The story rights were bought from the author's (James Jones) wife in 1988.
Actor Nicolas Cage might also have starred in this film, were it not for a little mix-up in telephone messages between him and Terrence Malick. The misunderstanding ultimately left Malick feeling slighted by Cage for not returning his call, and Cage feeling sorry because he never got the message. There was a film in 1998 called A SOLDIER'S DAUGHTER NEVER CRIES, which was a biopic on the life of "A Thin Red Line" novelist James Jones, written by his daughter, Kaylie.
Although some shooting for this film was actually done in the Guadalcanal Island, most of the film was shot around Port Douglas in Queensland, Australia.
The script for this movie was apparently 213 pages long, shot over 123 days, and held a budget of $50Million.
Actor Elias Koteas was born in my hometown of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Actor Jim Caviezel's feature film debut was as an airline clerk in Gus Van Sant's 1991 film MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO (7.5/10).
Review Date: February 4, 1999
Director: Terrence Malick
Writer: Terrence Malick (based on novel by James Jones) Producers: Robert Michael Geisler, Grant Hill and John Roberdeau Actors: Nick Nolte as Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Tall, Sean Penn as First Sergeant Edward Welsh, Elias Koteas as Captain
James Staros, Jim Caviezel as Private Witt, Ben Chaplin as Private Jack Bell, Adrien Brody as Cpl. Fife
Genre: Drama
Year of Release: 1998
---------------------------------------
JoBlo's Movie Emporium
http://www.joblo.com
---------------------------------------
(c) 1999 Berge Garabedian
More on 'The Thin Red Line'...
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
