Are you happy, world?! Full Metal Jacket Review

June 10, 2008 at 6:42 am · Filed under Movie Reviews ·Tagged D'Onofrio, Kubrick, movie

WordPress wanted the title of my first post to be “Hello, world!”, to which I say NAY! Nay, wordpress. This is not a post of jubilation at having a blog. This is a post of trepidation at having to write a blog. I will be reviewing and commenting on whatever movies and music that finds its way to me, whether they be current or classic, obvious or obscure.

Ahem.

This will not be an aggressively alliteratory blog (damn it!), and I will swear on it, because that is how I talk. So, avert any babies’ eyes from the screen, but more importantly, who the hell reading this (if anyone is reading this) has a baby?

To business.

I saw Full Metal Jacket yesterday, as part of my continuing struggle to watch every movie on the IMDb Top 250 by the end of the summer. I would call myself a Kubrick guy; I love A Clockwork Orange and The Shining – and I would show them to anyone wanting to know what a classic Stanley Kubrick-directed movie looked and felt like – but I wasn’t the biggest fan of 2001: A Space Odyssey, which as I understand it, is one of the most divisive movies ever. Full Metal Jacket, alternately titled as “Kubrick Does ‘Nam”, was a very varied movie, but it never failed to impress me. Vin D’Onofrio is always interesting in his roles, and here he plays fat asshole Private Leonard Lawrence, and his assholishness takes a twist that is really interesting to watch as it develops.

Most of the movie is spent at basic training, with the main characters being Leonard, Private Joker, and the drill instructor, Sgt. Hartman (played by R. Lee Ermey, who you’ll recognize if you watch a lot of movies that have roles exactly like this one). Kubrick never assumes that basic is more than grueling routine that borders on disturbing, but manages to keep the viewer engrossed. Of course, once the movie shifts to ‘Nam, that isn’t all that hard.

I don’t feel like writing much more about it, so I’ll leave it with a big recommend if you like Kubrick, ‘Nam, D’Onofrio, or horrendous John Wayne impressions (you’ll see).

That’s all for now, thanks kids! I don’t know how long or how frequent these posts will be, but right now, it seems like a fun distraction.

One last thing: If you have recently discovered a movie or an artist, or even just one song, that you would like me to take a look at, just e-mail me at matthew.rothstein@oberlin.edu. I’ll most likely agree to it, but don’t expect always glowing reviews for things that I find, or that you find for me.

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