Faith of My Fathers

Faithful biography depicting the life of Sen. John McCain as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.

Coming from a strict military family, McCain is able to weather the storm on confinement and brutality of the North Vietnamese during the conflict.

A weak student at the academy, McCain is backed up by his father, a very good performance by Scott Glenn. Glenn portrays a totally dedicated military official who doesn't even shake an eyelid when he informed that his son has been captured.

The torture chambers and the torture inflicted on McCain and others is well shown.

McCain is definitely pictured as a hero in this film. He refused to be released if it meant having to participate in North Vietnamese propaganda.

A very good story dealing with military honor, call to duty and undying patriotism by our men and women in uniform.

Basically a 2-hour film showing McCain getting abused as a POW. I learned nothing about McCain from this except that he was horribly abused. Even how or whether he stood up to it was deliberately left unclear. Or maybe I dozed off in the middle and missed it.

What's left out was his reaction, his growth, what he thought about during his time, and what he did when he got out that made him enter politics. In other words, the movie was totally lacking in merit. I gotta figure that McCain's book (on which the movie is based) had to provide all this detail but the producers had no interest in that aspect.

As for Scott Glenn, I cannot understand how he agreed to this role. There was no meat here for him to sink his teeth into. Anyone can play the role of a father that never shows his emotion. But the opportunity to go into his inner conflict between being a major leader of the Vietnam conflict and his son's confinement was dealt with in less than 1 minute of the film.

Acting from other players was similarly disappointing. For example, there was no in-depth struggle by the actors playing the soldiers who confessed for fear of more torture.

What a disappointment.

This movie appeals to those viewers who are either military or related to a military member.

It is a story of what people endure at the hands of the enemy, regardless who that enemy is (reverse roles and you have the Iraqi prison scandal).

War is not sterile or "cool." The anger, frustration and hopelessness of those involved in its day to day actions is well expressed in this film. One commentator found fault with the Admiral's (Glenn's father) lack of emotion. As a seasoned military man, emotions are things which the professional soldier puts on hold until the issue at hand is resolved.

This story is NOT a warm and fuzzy. McCain endured for years what most people in the US could not endure for one week. We are quick to jump on the depiction of the events and criticize the story but those of us who HAVE served this country in times of conflict can only say that were the shoe on MY foot, would I have the temerity and fortitude to endure this torment? McCain, unlike the present Commander-In-Chief, IS a war hero and this film does justice to him, the US Military and the Code of Honor that upholds our military traditions.

This movie covers the period time Sen. John McCain spent as a POW at the Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam war. For those of you who enjoyed this movie but have not read the book I would strongly encourage you to do so.

For those of you who have read the book and felt a little unsatisfied with the movie, I feel the same. Unless I missed it they left out Hanoi Jane's visit to the camp which is totally unacceptable. Also, McCain's theft of another persons washrag was not part of the movie.

I'm glad a movie was made from this great book, but as is often the case, the movie is substantially inferior to the book.

Shawn Hatosy appears to be managing his career carefully. For a young, relatively unknown actor he seems to look for work in films with casts that include accomplished, known co-workers. He hasn't made the mistake of accepting anything that's offered.

The story (McCain's harrowing experiences as a POW) should make one appreciate what McCain has given to his country but my lasting impression of this film is Hatosy's work. His was a very, very good piece of acting. This is an actor who has established a floor under his work which he will not go below. He has relatively high standards which assures viewers that anything he appears in will be good, or very good.