Rhineland

I caught this last week at the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase and was literally blown away that this type of film could be accomplished outside of Hollywood.

To be completely honest, I am not that big of a war film buff (that's more my husband) but I was truly impressed by this endeavor.

Chris Grega's direction was solid in telling the story of a hard lucked mine platoon in WWII Germany. The acting was top notch, especially by the three main characters, Derek Simmons, R. Travis Estes and Paul Wendell. Wendell's character, the brutal Sgt. Bowen, was the one that really stood out for me. His acting was stellar who, like Grega, seems destined for bigger and better things. The whole cast played well and really made me a believe that they were going through hell.

But Grega really deserves recognition here. During the Q&A session after the showing, he disclosed how he was able to put it all together. I won't go into the details but I was shocked at how ambitious this project was. I only hope that "Rhineland" gets out to the general public and gets seen.

Just a great film that did an excellent job at portraying the misery and confusion of war.