Platoon

Wow.

On Saturday, I reviewed W, which I'm sure most of the three of you are already aware of, and that movie sucked the high hard one. On Tuesday, I returned to the world of early Oliver Stone - you know, back when he had talent and promise and wasn't just coasting on his reputation as an enfant terrible - with Platoon, which turned out to be an absolute materpiece. Watching those two movies within three days of one another provides an amazing example of the gulf of quality between early Stone and the hack zombie trudging around Hollywood today. The contrast is almost as complete as that between Jaws and Jaws: the Revenge, and it's simply inexplicable that they were made by the same person.

Based closely on Stone's own experiences, Platoon chronicles the experiences of Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen), a college wash-out who felt obligated to serve his country in time of war - even if that war is the hellish jungle of Vietnam. Taylor struggles to adjust to his new country, and finds himself on a front-line platoon, which is polarized between two leaders: the sensitive, virtuous, almost mystical Sgt. Elias (Willem Dafoe) and the battle-scarred, vulgar and violent Sgt. Barnes (Tom Berenger). Taylor struggles to navigate between the two groups, but after their destruction of a village of suspected Vietcong sympathizers, the split within the platoon leads to irrevocable conflict - just as the VC launch an all-out offensive against them.

Platoon is clearly a labor of love for Stone, his tribute to the soldiers who fought and died in a war many of them did not believe in. Technically it's a skillful film, and on levels of narrative and characters it is particularly strong. Stone has affection for most of these characters, and sympathy for even the less heroic ones.

Private Taylor is largely a fly on the wall, a bland Dickensian Everyman used to illuminate more interesting side-characters. The conflict between the intelligent, compassionate Ellias and the boorish redneck Barnes provides most of the film's dramatic tension, showing the two kinds of men who developed out of such a conflict - men driven to the breaking point. Supporting characters like the petrified O'Neil (John C. McGinley), blindly obedient to the braver and more determined Barnes, the voice of reason King (Keith David), the indecisive Lieutenant Wolfe (Mark Moses), who is too weak and cowardly to intervene, the by-the-book Captain (Dale Dye) who is too distracted by the war to see what's happening to his men, and grunts like Warren (Tony Todd), Gator (Johnny Depp), and Bunny (Kevin Dillon), who are either drug-addicted, angry and battle-crazed, or just plain scared, provide vivid shades to complement the extremes. These men are believable as characters, not just archetypes and symbols.

The movie is anti-war without being particularly obnoxious about it - only a few moments, like the Nazi flag adorning an APC during the final battle, go a bit overboard, and there isn't much actual criticism of the war itself by Stone, save presenting the everyday Hell of fighting a guerilla war. The raid on the village is the centerpiece of the movie, and it is refreshingly presented in a straight-forward manner. It's not an atrocity ordered by higher-ups, and so we aren't treated to the "we were just following orders" claptrap of so many anti-war flicks; rather, it's a simply a group of men pushed to their breaking point, retaliating for the deaths of several of their own men. Nor is the entire platoon revelling in the massacre; only Barnes and his more devoted followers are engaged in what carnage we do see, and the more moral platoon members like Taylor and Elias try to intervene. This scene works so much better than most of its equivalents in other films: no heavy-handed message is shoved down our throats, merely the simple but effective idea that war is hell, and that it drives men mad.

The chaotic close-range ground fighting is presented straight-forward, lacking for the most part cheap blood, squib and slow-motion effects, preventing any real visceral thrill. This is war; men are killing each other, and we're given an objective perspective rather than the visceral thrills offered by Peckinpah and his legion of imitators. Stone doesn't want to glorify death, merely to depict it, and it works wonderfully. The only moment of stylization is the death of Sgt. Elias, left to die amidst a swarming batallion of VC troops by the callous Barnes - and on an emotional and visceral level, it's appropriate and dramatically affective rather than garish or sentiment.

The cast is exceptional. Charlie Sheen shows a dramatic range he's never really equalled, completely convincing as the normal guy in an impossible situation. Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger are both exceptional as the two Sergeants who battle for Taylor's affection and respect, nearly tearing the platoon apart in the process. Keith David gives an underrated performance as Taylor's father-figure, King. The supporting cast includes a veritable who's-who of up-and-coming actors, including Johnny Depp, Forrest Whittaker, and Tony Todd.

Overall, despite a few scant moments of formula and heavy-handedness, Platoon is a success on all levels. Its flaws are minor, and its virtues quite evident. I might rank Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket ahead of this film on my list of Vietnam films, but that's merely praise of how brilliant that film was. Between this and the equally brilliant if historically suspect JFK, one wonders what happened to Oliver Stone. Maybe he just worked better on coke.

Rating: 9/10 - Highest Recommendation