Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 28

entertainment DETROIT FREE PRESSTUESDAY, DEC 30, 1986 4C Performances make 'Platoon' a standout PLATOON Area Theaters Sgt. Barnes Tom Berenger Sgt. Ekas Willem Dloe Oris Cherlle Sheen Big Harold Foreit Whlteker Junior Reggie Johneon Sgt. O'Nel John C. McOlnley Rhah Franceeco Qulnn Written and directed by Oliver Stone; produced by Arnold Kopelson; photography by Robert Richardson; original music by Georges Delerue.

PARENTS GUIDE: Rated very strong profanity, grisly violence. A mH m-AMM By DIANE HAITHMAN Fret Presi Staff Writer New Year's Day, 1968: Combat duty in Vietnam is a senseless horror. Looking back from a 1986 perspective, combat duty in Vietnam is still a senseless horror. Jhat's the only message of "Platoon," and it's a point worth making, no matter how many times it has been made before. Still, it is not enough of a point to make "Platoon," a story of war and misery passionately written and directed by former Vietnam foot soldier Oliver Stone (also writer-director of stand out much from the crowd of war movies.

ADMITTEDLY, "Platoon" suffers a little in the viewing simply because of the hype surrounding its opening, whith calls the film the defifjittve statement on the Vietnam But when turning a critical eye on any Jilm about any unfathomable tragedy be it Vietnam or the Holocaust or Third World famine it's too easy to let the filmmaker take credit for the power'of the subject matter without questioning whether he or she has brought anything unique to its One, can't help but compare "Platoon' with 1978's "The Deer Hunter," a Vietnam film that dragged its audience screaming into the heart of hell and never bothered to bring them back out. It was horrible, but it was a statement. "Pure Eastwood He's a powerhouse." WOR-TV, Judith Crist 'Platoon' is another view of the Vietnam war. Above, from left, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen and Tom Berenger. At left: Oliver Stone, former Vietnam foot soldier, who wrote and directed the movie.

Charlie Sheen's character, Chris, an upper-middle-class college dropout who actually volunteers for combat, is beautifully realized; Tom Berenger and Willem Dafoe, as the death-scarred sergeants, go chillingly beyond human decency as they turn the war into a power struggle between themselves. There Is a certain earnest appeal to the movie's lack of sophistication. Symbolism, while heavy-handed, Is well intentloned (a young soldier blithely Ignites a Vietnamese grass shack and his cigaret in the same stroke). And, since Sheen's character serves as the film's narrator as he reads aloud his letters to his grandmother (which, despairing, he eventually gives upi writing), the movie has an opportunity: to make Its statements in so many: words: "Hell is the impossibility of reason," Chris writes. No kidding.

AWARNIK I OMMUMi AT KNS I OMIANY I-ROM WARNfcR BROS.1 NCW SHOWING Call theatre for showtime 1:30 5:00 7:45 10:15 1:30 4:45 7:30 9 55 1:30 4:45 7:30 10:16 1:30 4:30 7:30 10:15 12. 2:30 5.7:30 10, 12:15 12. 2:25 4:50 7:20 0:45 "EDBIE MURPHY IS A BRILLIANT COf.UC ACTOR 24-carat Great!" I 12, 2:30 5,7:30 10. 12:15 1:15 5:15 0:20 10.12:30 2 46 5, 7:30 10 -JotlHtl, WAK-TV 12, 2:30 5,7:30 10,12:15 12, 2:30 5. 7 JO 10, 12:15 2:30 4:50 7:30 10:00 THE THE MOST OUTRAGEOUS MOVIE GOLDEN CHILD "Platoon" never goes quite that far, although it seems to be trying.

Innocence is lost, but not mangled. "Platoon" lacks structure; it's more a mood piece than anything else which is fine, for a while. But it takes so long for the internal conflict among the platoon members to surface that it's difficult to become involved. Despite the effectiveness of some of its moments, one begins to wish this movie were headed somewhere. SENSITIVE, intimate performances on the part of every member of a large ensemble cast, however, are enough to keep one watching.

MUSICAL COMEDY IN YEARS." -JEFFREY LYONS, SNEAK PREVIEWSINN 'TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY MATE! "A Rousing old-Fashioned to have you leave the theatre with a smile on your face." Rone Barrett, MUTUAL BROADCASTING PG-13 A PARAMOUNT PICTURE ii i liiilTr'IHIl I MOW PI AVIMn 1:00 3 00 B15 74S 10 1:30 3:30 6:30 7:45 9:45 T.v.nj.v-ni.'iiYniM.'JJJIihtijirjJIiHl 12:30 2 45S1R 7 dR i nn i nn cm ii i vf i B'fii'iMwa QMM: Mil 'U'Min CALL FOR SHOWTIMES 12:15 2:30 5:00 7:30 9 40 1:00 3:10 5:20 7:30 9 40 0 hs 12 45 2 20 4 10 6 05 8 9 hS i jiiajLoo iximSc 10 00 2:00 4:00 6:008:0 00 10 PAUL HOGAN 1 -ji Act mNccumttnuMt Kwnw Oriental ALL ORIENTAL STAFF MSibAUt SAUNA WHIRLPOOL SMOWLII Ml AM IIOOM JACUZZI im Telegraph fit 354-1072 Soulti ol 10 M.lo ltd boulhhotd to (MHUniKHHmM 10 12:00 2:16 4:30 7:00 9 IK 126 2:46 5:00 7:15 9:20 11 20 12 45 2 46 6-nn 7-1K Qin i i on now sinuvivr; 1 163165 15 7:169 1511:15 1O03OQS1O72O93O DRIVE-IN There's a little of him in all of us. A PICTURE ijilSk- COPVROMTCiiwBrPAfiAMQuNfPetunFSConpORA) yH: AllHiGMlSRCSEnveo I. 3, 5, 7:45 0:45 2:16 4:45 7:46 0:56 12:45 2:40 4:55 7:16 9-20 1 1-7(1 1U NOW SHOWING HoUett New Mixed-Combo on the Year Mlted Combe Him Fettlval "DARK DESIRES" Alto: 2nd a 3rd XXX Feature Film Open 9 am to Midnight; Frl. Sal. 9 am to 5 am: Sunday-Noon-Midnight 2.00 OFF REG.

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