“This movie is what I like to call The Mighty Ducks… in the military.”
Moving right along on my list of Clint Eastwood-directed films, this movie is what I like to call The Mighty Ducks… in the military. We got a reluctant, flawed authority figure who is forced to take charge of an undisciplined group of misfits and lead them through a trial-by-fire transformation. I say The Mighty Ducks because I grew up with it, but it’s also an example of a trope that we’ve seen in a ton of other movies. A few come to mind, such as Dangerous Minds, School of Rock, and Sister Act. All of these movies do essentially the same thing by taking a group of impossibly unruly people and shaping them up, and you know what… the military seems to be the perfect setting for the trope.
Past that, I also want to mention that even though a majority of these Clint Eastwood movies have Clint playing basically the same exact grizzled, gruff, squinty-eyed tough guy, this was actually one of the first times I’ve believed in the performance more than just a typecast role. There are layers to his character. Not a ton, mind you. A majority of the character is really no different than anything we’ve seen in the past, but he takes a liking to this ragtag group of misfits. Even though he treats them like your typical drill sergeant, I would argue he plays the role honestly to the degree that you can tell he’s warming up to them.
Past that, you have the story of his character trying to get back into his ex-wife’s good graces. To be honest, this was the part of the movie I thought was mostly unnecessary. Narratively, I do get it. This was the part of the film that was supposed to showcase the different layers to his character, humanize him a bit, and let that character development shine. So, as far as writing goes, it makes a lot of sense, but it was extremely uninteresting. You didn’t need it. If you wanted to humanize him and showcase his character development more, all you had to do was have him show that through these Marines that he is attempting to beat into shape. It was already doing that to begin with, and honestly… that’s all it really needed.
The film has a few good one-liners, as I’m really starting to realize is kind of Clint Eastwood’s… thing? Additionally, from what I understand, those that have actually gone through the Marine Corps have praised the film for its authenticity in what the training is really like, from the camaraderie to the action they have to face. But let’s talk about the action for a moment. The main aspect that this movie is based on and building up to is the invasion of Grenada in 1983. That’s all fine and dandy, but the most I can say about that is… the invasion itself felt significantly anticlimactic and maybe under-budget. It needed to feel bigger with more stakes so all of that camaraderie they’d built before that would feel more significant and earned. It’s not a huge complaint at the end of the day, but it certainly waters a lot down.
Overall, I’d simply call the movie “okay.” I had a good enough time with it. It had a lot of strong ideas and concepts. Clint Eastwood pulled off a strong character that is reminiscent of what he always does, but also sometimes a little bit funny. The film is listed as a dark comedy on top of being a war drama, and I would say that sometimes comes through, but not always.
Technical/Unbiased Score: 35/50 (70%)
Biased/Entertainment Score: 31/50 (62%)
Total Combined Score: 66/100 (66% or 3.5/5 on Letterboxd)