Love in Country

Whilst this may be based on a true scenario, and there may well be an underlying critique on the intolerance of the US military towards anyone who wasn't a white, heterosexual, man during the Vietnam War (and in many other conflicts) that's no excuse for taking the story of these brave men and turning it into this. David Garber ("Sgt. Alexander") and Michael Southworth ("Sgt. Reese") are charged with leading a secret CIA mission whilst facing opposition from their tenacious enemy and, as the two men come to terms with their own sexuality, with their colleague's attitude to that - all whilst under fire and in hostile terrain. The narrative here is all over the place. The lacklustre direction and soporific score; the really mediocre writing and the stilted acting all contribute to what is essentially a throughly unremarkable piece of cinema that seems to have no idea who it is for, or what it is trying to say - beyond the bleeding (quite literally) obvious. Most films from this theatre of war depict tragedy and brutality - but most do it far more cogently than this insipid melodrama that uses a gay angle to the story to thinly disguise a poor piece of wartime story-telling. It can't have had much of a budget and much of it looks like it was filmed in someone's back yard. It probably was, and maybe they could just stick to showing it there, too. Very poor.

Love in Country is much more than a war movie or a film about forbidden gay love. It successfully presents complex characters in an intriguing plot, good action, and beautiful original music.

Amidst the horrors of the Vietnam war, two men become involved in a relationship and physical attraction not allowed in the U. S. army. Tender scenes reveal the soldiers' moments of passion without overemphasis on their physical acts of love.

With exemplary performances by the leading actors, the film makes viewers feel that they are watching real events in 1968 Vietnam. A variety of personalities and qualities in the lead characters creates a definite check-off list for "like" or "dislike." Memorable performance by Elijah Olachea as "Burd." All the supporting actors brought a realism to their characters.

Love in Country is definitely worth seeing more than once.

I gave it a chance. There were good reviews on here which is why I watched. WHY? It was horrible! Reminded me of a really, really, really bad version of Yossi & Jagger. No character development of the two main actors.... I couldn't even tell who they were at times. Poor crappy CGI effects. From the first few minutes I could tell this was filmed locally in some woods. If I wanted to watch a Vietnam field I'd watch Apocalypse Now. One or two scenes does not make it LGBT. Still don't what the movie was all about. Really. It had potential, and could have a LGBT movie with the Vietnam War as the background - I don't think there is any such movie.

Look, this is not necessarily well made. Or well acted. It is very low budget and it shows. It was very ambitious, but its reach exceeded its grasp. Very different kind of gay story, and pretty moving despite its obvious limitations. I give it a 6 or 6.5 out of 10 for the effort. With a budget, and in the right hands, this could really be something big and classic, an award winner. I give the director and everyone else involved kudos for trying.

The 600 minimum character restriction on review is so ridiculous. Sometimes there aren't six hundred characters to share about a movie or a show. I understand the reasoning and the need for it, but 600 is way too high.

There is a lot of great cinematography in this film and the score was really great, these can specifically be seen in the landscape and aerial shots and the final closing scene and the scene with the monk in the woods. The story is compelling but could have used something more, possibly if this production had a higher budget as it does feel a bit on the low budget end. Especially with the gunfire and explosions not looking real. But I did find myself rooting for the characters although I did get a bit lost with what happened with the mission and what the rouge captain was doing at the end of the battle. But overall I felt the relationship between the two lead characters was very genuine.