I really hope lots of people get to see "Missing in America." It's a well-told story that uncovers some of the aftereffects of that mistaken military tragedy. War-is-Tragedy has been said before, but obviously, not often enough and this film says it in a new way. Through Jake (Danny Glover), a hermit vet whose pain from the war is under layers and layers of scar tissue, we understand how painful war is and how wrong battles can go. From seeing his near-total withdrawal and through flashbacks we learn that good men and innocent women and children were killed for what amounted to nothing. The North won.
Jake takes in (reluctantly) a wonderful half-Vietnamese girl(played by Zoe Weizenbaum). He snaps at her but mostly she holds her own and eventually melts his heart along with the hearts of some other GI hermits. The fights and the heart connections between Jake and the girl are so smooth and jaw-dropping real that you don't even know you're in a theater.
I think the ending of this movie is partly what makes it a great film but it is an unexpected turn of events and you should probably stop here and just go see the film if you want to be surprised. After viewing come back to read that: The sad ending is part of how the film screams for more healing to be done. More crying. So many people were scarred. The ending gives you the result of what happens when you ignore the pain and damage that this war has done. And aren't we in another war that is also like a civil war and is also being waged by leadership that has made no effort to understand the culture and ideology of the "combatants?" Perhaps not grieving Viet Nam has just come back to take another serious bite out of our hearts and souls. "Condemned to repeat it," . . . and all that.
Jake takes in (reluctantly) a wonderful half-Vietnamese girl(played by Zoe Weizenbaum). He snaps at her but mostly she holds her own and eventually melts his heart along with the hearts of some other GI hermits. The fights and the heart connections between Jake and the girl are so smooth and jaw-dropping real that you don't even know you're in a theater.
I think the ending of this movie is partly what makes it a great film but it is an unexpected turn of events and you should probably stop here and just go see the film if you want to be surprised. After viewing come back to read that: The sad ending is part of how the film screams for more healing to be done. More crying. So many people were scarred. The ending gives you the result of what happens when you ignore the pain and damage that this war has done. And aren't we in another war that is also like a civil war and is also being waged by leadership that has made no effort to understand the culture and ideology of the "combatants?" Perhaps not grieving Viet Nam has just come back to take another serious bite out of our hearts and souls. "Condemned to repeat it," . . . and all that.