Jacknife

Saw this on cable back in the early 90's and loved it. Never saw it again until it showed up on cable again recently. Still find it a great Vietnam movie. Not sure why its not higher rated. I found everything about this film compelling. As a vet (not from Vietnam) I can relate to the situations brought by both Harris and De Niro. I can only imagine this film being more poignant now with our situation in Iraq. I wish this would be offered on cable more often for people to see. The human toll on our soldiers isn't left on the battlefield. Its brought home for the rest of there lives. And this film is one of many that brings that home in a very hard way. Excellent film.

A good video selection of a movie, especially if you have not seen it before, ...if you can't find a New Release you'd like to look at. Robert De Niro, Kathy Baker, and Ed Harris supply a well rounded look of 'Healing'. Kathy Baker was just great as a supporting role.

I missed Viet Nam by one year, my draft number was high enough in the year that the severe de-escalation started. This is not a 'Platoon', or 'Full Metal Jacket'. This film is about a couple of Vets in the years' aftermath. Takes place back in the States, after the War is over. Very few flashbacks were done, but were neccessary to bring context to the film. Ed Harris plays the one person who is in the most pain, and is always on the edge of hurting others because of it. Kathy Baker plays his sister. Robert De Niro was just perfect for the part he played, as he comes into both their lives. It is not a perfect film, or screenplay; but the the actors pull it off. I believe Ed Harris was nominated for a certain award for his efforts (not Oscar, another kind).

You don't have to have been to Viet Nam to appreciate this movie. Though it is about the aftermath of Viet Nam experience, it can also be about Self. About how we have these opposites within ourself and how the best parts of ourself, even though they may be injured, try to reach out and save the most darkest part that we have. That movie describes what I just wrote and I could not avoid tears, myself, toward the movie's end. If you just stay with it; you may know or appreciate what I mean.

I loved this movie. It is rare to get a glimpse of post-partum Vietnam, and this movie-sans combat scenes and exciting bombs and gunfire- did it. I had no idea I'd be so affected by it. What an amazing look at how alien Vets feel. It was tough to watch, quite frankly. We all understand the fighting and the Apocalypse Now type of drama, but this is so so different. What happens when they come back and try to live a life? They can't. It made me very aware of a large group of men that are rattling around lost in America. Not able to relate, can't sleep, can't have love affairs, can't deal with "normal society". They feel totally apart. This is a huge tragedy, and one that isn't addressed enough. Yeah, we've changed our attitude about Vietnam Vets, we like them now, but so what? It doesn't seem to have made any difference to them. It's too late? So it was a great film, but I cried a lot. I have no other criticisms.

David Jones's "Jacknife" basically looks at how war messes people up. Megs (Robert DeNiro) and Davey (Ed Harris) try to push forward with their lives, but their experience in Vietnam will color their existence forever. This becomes all too apparent with the incident during the prom.

I understand that this movie is based on a play. I've never seen the play, so I can't compare it. What I can say is that DeNiro and Harris put on intense performances, as does Kathy Baker. This is the sort of movie that hits you like a brick in the face. It's not a masterpiece, but worth seeing as a look at what had become of the Vietnam vets in the US. To this day, we still haven't gotten over that war (and we're nowhere near getting over any of the wars launched amid the so-called war on terrorism).

Watch for an early appearance of Charles S. Dutton, and a young Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri on "Glee").

War is not fun... or least it shouldn't be. Whoever it doesn't leave physically scarred it leaves emotionally, mentally, and psychologically scarred. Some have deeper scars than others.

Joseph "Megs" Megasy (Robert De Niro) was scarred and he was working daily to heal. David (Ed Harris) was also scarred, but he turned to the bottle for his healing. The two of them were part of the same unit with a third friend whom they lost in Vietnam. It affected them both deeply and it showed.

Megs was determined to reach out and grab a hold of Dave no matter what. He was so determined that I didn't know what to expect from Megs. The movie started with Megs banging on Dave's door at the crack of dawn waking up the entire neighborhood. I thought for sure that Megs was going to be an untamable loose cannon capable of great harm. I was wrong. There was a method to his madness, and it was in the name of helping another veteran in need.

I liked "Jacknife" a lot. This is probably my favorite movie dealing exclusively with mental and emotional recovery from Vietnam. There were other post-Vietnam movies like "Deerhunter" and a few others I can't readily recall, but this has to be my favorite. It showed the tragic effect the war had on those soldiers without being too tragic. That is to say that the vets weren't robbing banks, or killing people, or committing suicide--that was a tragedy I didn't want to see.

There was also a soft side to "Jacknife" as Megs developed an adult yet romantic relationship with Martha (Kathy Baker), Dave's sister. This was no fireworks upon first sight, or a deeply passionate romance, rather it was a slowly kindled fire that never blazed but burned quietly.

The message of "Jacknife" was clear: get veterans the help they need. Part of that needed help is commiserating with other vets. Maybe, just maybe, they need their brothers in arms more post-war than they did during war.