And on June 6, remembering my favorite "Saving Private Ryan" review...

Which came from Total Film, and included this gem of inanity:

Take the no-show of any Allies. While this is forgivable for Omaha Beach (a uniquely American cock-up), it's harder to explain as Captain Miller's eight-man unit move inland. Where are the British, the French, the Polish or the Canadians?

Not including Canadians, Brits, or Poles at Omaha Beach--who were not there--is forgivable? How about historically accurate?

Which is also the case for the travels of Tom Hanks' little patrol inland, which took place several days before the Americans hooked up with the British who had landed near Caen. So to answer the question, Where are the British, the French, the Polish, or the Canadians?, the correct answer would be: someplace else, you morons.

This sort of inanity should come as no surprise, considering that some reviewers also lambasted Apollo 13 for actually focusing on the lunar mission and not the greater social context of America in the 1960-early 1970s:

Furthermore, the extensive focus on the mission seems to preclude any in-depth characterization, except for Hanks' role. Like "Forrest Gump," "Apollo 13" opts for simplicity and clarity, putting down, for example, the hippies and counter-cultural movement. There is no reference to Vietnam, the anti-War movement, feminism and sexual politics, and other racial problems that besieged the country in 1970.

Comments

Waldo Lydecker's Journal said…

As Alfred Hitchcock said to Kim Novak during the filming of Vertigo, "It's just a moooovie."

June 7, 2009 at 12:34 AM

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