The Veteran

Usually I am ready to champion a film that's been pretty much slagged off by everyone else. I mean, it only had 215 votes and, besides, it has Ally Sheedy in it. Surely it can't be that bad?! Sorry to say but it was indeed exceedingly low rent at best. I was pretty unconvinced from the word "go". The opening cab ride, where a short news flash on the car radio takes the entire journey, suddenly had me seeing the flashing red lights that portend a real stinker. Nothing about any of the characters had any sense of authenticity and you could not really care about any of them. The war scenes were hoke and the whole thing is a badly written, badly directed and badly acted mess. There are plenty of ways to spend an hour and a half. I wouldn't waste it watching this.

This is a pretty good movie. Not the best ever, but definitely underrated with just 3*. It is good acting, nothing fancy or shocking in the script, it just makes you think. It is not a classical Vietnam war movie ( as The Platoon) or post Vietnam war trauma movie (Deer Hunter, Born on 4th of July), you just have to see it for yourself. Its not only M Ironside with the good acting, its also the supporting actors. And by the way, I haven't seen M Ironside for a long time, does he appear in any good movie lately?!?! I voted it 7*, still maybe it worths just 5 or 6, but I wanted to improve the rate, it obviously worths more than 3*! However, maybe its not quite connected to this specific movie, but I wonder how can it be rated only 3*! Usually, before watching a movie I check on IMDb's site and almost never watch movies rated less than 4 or 5*, I made an exception with this one (I just felt it) and now I don't feel that it was wasted time! Is it possible that I ignored some other underrated movies?! I'll have to check! As for 'The Veteran', if you are not a Rambo fan, then you will like the war scenes shown in the characters' flashbacks. I have actually felt that those ordinary guys (regardless that they were marines) were facing death at each step, and these are not just empty words. I've felt the same watching 'The Platoon', but you cant draw a parallel between the 2 movies, they are totally different, its just how it made me feel when I imagined myself in their skin.

I have to say, I didn't expect much out of this, but I was pleasantly surprised. The story is really fascinating, and has some unexpected twists that make the characters a lot more complex than I expected. I didn't think Michael Ironside was overacting, so much as showing just how desperate, and lost he was. His performance made sense for the unhinged man he plays.

And, y'know, it's nice to know Ally Sheedy is still getting a paycheck, even if she isn't an 80's brat packer anymore.

Anyway...I'm not a huge war movie fan, but this one had a lot of interesting layers, and the contrast between the war scenes and the stifling hotel scenes worked really well.

I thought that this was not a bad little movie. Actually, it tries to be "big" in scope, with its Vietnam flashbacks that clearly show a lot of time and money was spent in making them feel authentic. The battle scenes and the non-combat scenes in these flashbacks are well done. But to tell the truth, I actually found the present-day sequences in the hotel room with the two men a lot more compelling than those flashback sequences. The acting and drama in the hotel room sequences are very well done, and I was really wanting to find out what secrets were wanting to be revealed. The cast is first-rate, especially Michael Ironside. So give this movie a chance, and be patient whenever the movie flashes back to the Vietnam war - you'll be rewarded in the end.

Weak at best. Overacting on Michael Ironside's part (and i usually really like this actor! Flashbacks overused in modern cinema and that is a perfect example. Conspiracy theories, please! Of all the Vietnam flicks i've seen it's the first one that bored me! Pretty images, but nothing special or breathtaking. The ending (no spoiler) is a big letdown and far-fetched. Really it's the perfect example of what action films shouldn't be. All and all, nothing special, weak, boring, the epitome of what certain people view as what men are (or should be?) i dunno, i wouldn't rent it if i were you, unless you suffer from insomnia and are looking for something to put you to sleep.