Courage Under Fire

with Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Lou Diamond Phillips
Directed by Edward Zwick
Written by Patrick Sheane Duncan
(Fox, 1996)
by Rich Romaine

I’m not much of a fan of war movies (except for the obvious: Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Stripes), but Courage Under Fire tells an exciting story in which every new development complicates matters that much more until viewers are left not knowing what’s real anymore. And that’s the way the government likes it. Truthfully, I was expecting Crimson Tide (the poor man’s version of The Hunt for Red October where Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin are replaced by Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington), except here, Grandpa Gene gets replaced by the aging-ever-so-gracefully Meg Ryan. But Meg Ryan gets to play Capt. Karen Emma Walden as both attractively butch and cracked-under-pressure, depending on whose recollection is being dramatized. Lt. Colonel Nathaniel Serling (Washington) tries to uproot the truth behind the conflicting stories of how Capt. Walden and her Medical Rescue team saved a group of soldiers, and decide if she’s worthy of her posthumous Medal of Honor. As she’d be the first woman awarded the honor, the political pressure is on – exerted in part by a White House sleazeball played by Bronson Pinchot. Not to mention Serling’s dirty secret: he accidentally attacked his own friend’s tank amidst the chaos in Desert Storm, a fact known only to him, a tape recording of the night’s happenings, and a persistent reporter (Scott Glenn). As the story unfolds, the discrepancies in the stories begin to suggest a cover-up. Lou Diamond Phillips, who’s looking mighty buff these days, gives his strongest performance yet as a ruthless gunner with an attitude. He isn’t called “Chief” once throughout the entire movie – what a relief. While Courage Under Fireis yet another cheesily-titled movie you’d expect the OXY-10 guy to announce, Washington plays the kind of honorable guy (in the military?!? Yup, that’s Hollywood for ya.) you’d really like to invite to the family BBQ, and Meg Ryan is still a total babe. (And women in battle fatigues usually don’t do it for me.) This movie recreates reality so many times (and each, at first glance, seems completely believable) it makes you wonder how often, with less dramatic outcome obviously, this happens in our everyday lives.