Faith of My Fathers

I wasn't surprised but yet surprised by the treatment that Senator McCain received during his 5 yrs as POW. I thought the movie was rather moving in the fact on how the military can prepare ones own mentality to "hold on" to survival and to fight that of brainwashing tactics. I was surprised however to question why the Vietnamese just didn't shoot him and the rest of the POW's......why didn't he leave when given a chance? I believe that there should have been more movies out like this shortly after they ended "the conflict" to show the American people more in-depth of the treatment of our herons. With this said, it would of, I believe, been more opened, understanding and welcoming arms reached out to our herons coming home. I thank everyone of them every day in prayer :-)

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.

FAITH OF MY FATHERS tells the true story of John McCain's military service, capture, and imprisonment in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. Nearly all of this made-for-TV movie is shot with a hand-held camera bringing the drama in close and making it personal. The pacing is fine, although the commercial breaks tended to disrupt more than average. The acting was the highlight of this production. The unknown actor playing John McCain really captures his essence. About the only thing that did not work in FAITH OF MY FATHERS was the shower peeping scene. It was out of place and did not advance the story.

Interestingly, the conflict in FAITH OF MY FATHER -- Vietnam communists captors versus the American prisoners of war -- no longer holds water as Vietnam today is mostly known as being Asia's new shining tourist destination. All of the torture inflicted upon John McCain and his fellow servicemen was ultimately for naught. The heroic resistance of the American prisoners was also pointless.

As John McCain may run for President again, the war crimes depicted in FAITH OF MY FATHER connects to today's Iraqi prisoner abuse. Would a President John McCain, a torture victim of the Vietnam War, approve of the proxy torture and trained rape canines currently used against today's Iraqi war prisoners?

FAITH OF MY FATHER is a fitting companion piece to 1987's HANOI HILTON -- another drama focusing on the daily suffering, torture, and brutal treatment the American P.O.W.s in North Vietnam's Hoa Lo Prison. If I am not mistaken, John McCain was a technical adviser to HANOI HILTON. Very interesting.

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.

Faith of My Fathers is a rather formulaic, predictable personality puff piece based on Senator John McCain's memoirs of his capture and experiences in Viet Nam.

As horrific as that experience must have been, this "made for TV" docudrama does a fairly good job of relating the ugly and terrible experience McCain went through without getting overly graphic or violent. The personal struggles with morality and sense of duty (for everyone) are what is in focus here.

Though much of the film portrays our "hero" as a noble and somewhat naive rebel, I believe it goes too far in trying to excuse McCain's faults and weaknesses and in fact, attempts to portray them as strengths or gloss over them altogether. Given the timing of this film, it is quite obviously a character "re-calibration" attempt for the McCain brand leading up to his run for the presidency. However, I think the film is excessive in its blatant attempt to present McCain as virtually perfect. While there's nothing wrong with being noble, brave, persistent, etc. For the right reasons, the film takes every opportunity to make sure you "get it." McCain was a hero, we get it... but it rather beats the point to death. Not unlike your grandma insisting you have "just one more bite" of her wonderful peach cobbler even though you are about to burst.

No doubt there were plenty of "personality branding" experts on hand to tweak the script (mostly to cut out anything that might be considered negative for McCain). The film is well acted and well produced. It is interesting enough to sit through but knowing its purpose was primarily to get McCain elected makes it feel a little too much like an elaborate and very expensive campaign ad. Still a good watch.