TIGERLAND

In 1997 'Batman and Robin' was released to almost universal negative reviews, and is now often cited as one of the worst films ever made.  

Given that a lot of the criticism was aimed squarely at its over-the-top campiness and jokiness, it is perhaps nor surprising that three years later the director, Joel Schumacher, goes to the other extreme, here making a film that is so determinedly gritty and low-key, that most of its dramatic juices have been sucked out of it.

It's set in Tigerland, which was an actual U.S. Army training camp during the mid-1960s to early 1970s, the last stop for infantrymen on their way to Vietnam.  Here we follow the experiences of a group of trainees, notably Bozz (played by Colin Farrell) and Paxton, an aspiring writer, who narrates the film. 

Bozz starts the film as a rebel, not dissimilar to Paul Newman in 'Cool Hand Luke', who is unpredictable but can be relied on to fix things, such as helping other soldiers exploit legal loopholes to get them out of the army.  

Later on, rather confusingly, Bozz is promoted to the role of 'platoon guide' although he still has plans to escape to Mexico before the unit is shipped out.

Instead of escaping though he finds a way to get Paxton a medical discharge, but at the personal cost of getting shipped out to Vietnam himself, which is how the film ends.

Before then, the main drama, such as it is, centres on the enmity between Bozz and one of the other soldiers, but I can't say I was particularly engaged in this.

Or indeed much else, in what seems a rather pointless film, given that it doesn't say anything particularly interesting or well.

RATING: x Curb Your Enthusiasm