Word of Honor

I put off watching this movie for several years because it just didn't sound like something I'd like, and there have been so many badly-done Vietnam-remembrance movies. I didn't want to see one of my favorite actors (Don Johnson) in one. When the movie began I had no idea that Don's son Jesse plays him as a young soldier, and couldn't figure out where they'd found someone who looks EXACTLY like he did in his 20's to play his younger self!! Then the words "Jesse Johnson" flashed across the screen and I about dropped my glass of iced tea --Jesse's grown up! How time flies. So I settled in to watch with a critical eye. The younger Johnson played his part flawlessly, never over-acting, but very believable in very difficult circumstances. The movie shields the viewer from the truth quite well, I couldn't figure out what actually happened at all until it is revealed.

Don is characteristically excellent, but then I am admittedly biased. To me Mr. Johnson gets into the heart of his characters like few other American actors today. Through his soulful handling of the difficult character he plays the movie's message comes through loud and clear.

It would have been a stronger movie if the character playing Marcy had been stronger. Although many of us may have skeletons in the closet, she comes across as a bit of a screaming mimi and "why me?" character. If these characters had a good marriage before (reportedly, we don't see enough to judge IMHO), then her first reaction shouldn't have been to be defensive and and offensive by turns to her husband. It would have been better if we had seen a Marcy worth fighting for, as Ben Tyson claims that "his family is everything," and he struggles to put them first all the while he is fighting what is happening. There is a scene where you finally understand why & how important his family is to him, but to me it comes waaaaaay too late in the movie. A few more close-family scenes in the first hour, and a wife less shallow & selfish, would have gone further to me to establish what Ben Tyson actually had, and would have upped my rating by at least one point. This guy is fighting the battle of his life and trying to save his marriage at the same time, and you want to ask him why he doesn't just tell her off at some point. His son's character has more depth and is very believable.

All in all, an excellent movie worth a few repeat watches. It definitely leaves you with a few deep thoughts at the end, not the least of which is, "Who is Thucydides, anyway? Must check him out...."

I had never heard of this movie but I'm a great fan of DeMille. I was totally blown away by Johnson's performance. He's way more believable than Sean Penn who always overacts. Johnson's performance is subtle even when he breaks down at the end. Great Great great. There's a great line in the film about the media being a giant conglomerate only interested in exploiting human tragedy for big bucks but calling it a search for truth.(Funny how apt this is with the NY Times looking into the adoption of Judge Roberts' kids) If this had been a feature film, I'm sure Johnson would have been nominated for an Oscar.The rest of the cast was so so but it doesn't make any difference. When Johnson is on the screen, the film is riveting. I also thought it was great that his son played him in the flashback scenes.

I don't usually add to this "comments" aspect of IMDb. But let me tell you, Don Johnson was AMAZING and blew me away, and if I didn't sit down and write about it, I was going to explode.

Truthfully, although Sharon Lawrence did an extremely competent job (sometimes really good) as his wife, the rest of the supporting cast was OK at best. Some really bad performances, in fact, that just make you cringe, but that you will often get on TV movies. The guys in the flashback sections did alright, especially Don Johnson's son. But other than that, you are just waiting for Don Johnson to come back on screen. And he does, so it's worth waiting for those moments:) And let me emphasize that I am NOT some teeny-bopper Don Johnson fan. I've never even liked his work that much before. But if you get a chance to see this (I got an Academy viewer; I'm not sure if they come out on DVD or not) you MUST check this out. I'm so impressed with what Mr.Johnson is capable of, and I'm really looking forward to his next movie.

If this had been a feature film, I would say that it was Oscar worthy.

I read this book by Nelson DeMille in 1986. I just re-read this month. During my second read, I could not put the book down. Over 500 pages and I wished there were more. Unfortunately, the movie did not do the book justice. Don Johnson has great appeal but the other characters in the movie did not develop. A solid movie theater remake with someone like Mathew McConaughey or Ben Afleck would work well. It needs to be more than a 90 minute movie to be a hit

This film is great. It starts off with you thinking one thing and then at the end when you are almost sure you know what happened, they sock you with a jaw-dropper. The whole film is very touching, very moving, has lots of new ideas and views on the affects of the war in Vietnam. All the actors do a very good job and Don Johnson is impeccable as a Lieutenant/Executive.

A must-see. Good job TNT!!!