1969 - O Ano que Mudou Nossas Vidas

This is a very strange movie but not in a very bad way.Some of the acting is poor and could have been much better.I liked most of the movie but the story is off the road and rather "drunk".1969 is a good movie to view by yourself.A lot of 80's films such as this one are corny but good at the same time.

I admit that I rented this because of Miss Ryder's name on the cover. However, this isn't really a Winona-Ryder-movie, she is secondary to the plot. Kiefer Sutherland and Robert Downey Jr. play the main characters, two irresponsible kids at the end of the 1960s, trying to avoid getting drafted or growing up. However, it didn't really touch me. The anti-war message could have been stronger if the war had felt more present. As ususal for a movie about kids, their parents are portrayed as being clueless about how things have changed since they were young. Scott's father seem to be thinking 'Whatever happened to the 1950s?' all through the movie.

Anybody who lived in the 60s, studied the 60s, or even heard about the 60s, knows that this movie reflects what the 60s were like about as accurately as the Barney movie shows us what dinosaurs were like. The script does all it can to tug at our emotions and make us feel all gushy about a better time while supplying no real plot and no interesting characters. Big loser of a movie. If you want to see a good movie about the 60s that also stars Kiefer Sutherland check out the great film Flashback.

Granted there wasn't much of a plot to 1969 and the acting was fair, but nevertheless I thought the film did accomplish something important. It made you realize that this kind of "drama" - coping with the aftermath of a Vietnam KIA - played out in tens-of-thousands of homes throughout the country during the '60s and '70s. The sum of all that pain and anguish makes me cringe. I served in South Vietnam from the summer of '68 to the summer of '69 in the USMC and I am glad to see this kind of message portrayed in a movie. It keeps alive the suffering endured by family and friends from that time. Maybe that sounds morbid but I think it's important for the here and now to acknowledge and remember that suffering. We can use it to give us perspective on how fortunate we are to be able to flourish and live to a ripe old age. For me of course it has special meaning. I could have ended my life at 19 and would have missed so much.

But that's what happened to so many. A horrible shame.

On the surface, the film is about two friends: one straight, the other into drugs etc. The film explores their relationship. Then there is the dysfunctional families and how they impact on the boys. The backdrop is the vietnam war, the death of family members, and the draft. All these issues intertwine closely making the film complex.

The acting is excellent. A film to be watched