Buffalo Soldiers (Joaquin Phoenix)

[dh1989]

"Buffalo Soldiers"

http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0252299/buffalosoldiers.jpg

http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0252299/0129.jpg

http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0252299/0006.jpg

Plot: "Set just before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, this is the story of a criminal drug culture among U.S. Army soldiers, focusing on Sgt. Ray Elwood (Phoenix), the clerk to the battalion commander, Colonel Berman (Harris). What Ray doesn't know is that there is an investigation working its way in his direction, even as he is falling in love with the daughter, Robyn (Paquin), of the soldier, Sgt. Lee (Glenn) who is leading the investigation against him."

Directed By: Gregor Jordan (Ned Kelly).

Written By: Eric Axel Weiss (Wicked), Nora Maccoby (Bongwater), and Gregor Jordan (Two Hands).

Executive Produced By: Reinhard Klooss (The Triumph of Love), James Schamus (Office Space), and Paul Webster (The Yards).

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix (Signs), Ed Harris (A Beautiful Mind), Anna Paquin (X-Men), Scott Glenn (Training Day), Dean Stockwell (CQ), Elizabeth McGovern (The House of Mirth), and Gabriel Mann (The Bourne Identity).

MPAA Rating: "R," for violence, drug content, strong language and some sexuality.

Feature Running Time: 98 minutes.

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Crime, and War.

Plot Keywords: Based-on-a-novel, black-comedy, army, Berlin-wall, and independent-film.

Thoughts: I'd love to see this film. The trailers are excellent, and this looks to be a nice blend of comedy, drama, and crime. There hasn't been a truly great social satire in a long time, and I bet this will break that trend. Sadly, Harvey Wienstein lost his balls a few years ago, and is hiding this film, for the most part, to avoid it being labeled as 'controversial', due to it's some-military-men-are-less-than-gods plot. At least the actors are doing some press, as I noted Anna Paquin is on Live! with Regis & Kelly tommorow, and Joaquin's on Thursday. I'll have to wait for DVD, or it MIGHT come to my cheap theatre, but doubtful. :( It looks like one of the best films of the year.

P.S. I feel sorry for Joaquin Phoenix and executive producer James Schamus, who were both involved in another underrated, dumped-in-theatres indie, The Yards (8/10). And guess who had the US rights to that? C'mon, guess. Correct! Miramax, the company that also dumped Below and Equilibrium. Someone needs to bitch-slap them.

A Miramax Films Release.

http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0252299/0096.jpg

http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0252299/0041.jpg

http://i.imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0252299/0162.jpg

Click here (http://us.imdb.com/Trailers?0252299) for the trailer!

[dh1989]

Here's a funny story about a disgruntled woman who found the film to be 'unpatriotic' from the IMDB.....

A Sundance Film Festival screening of Buffalo Soldiers, bought by Miramax Films in Sept. 2001 and shelved following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, turned into an uproar Tuesday when a woman in the audience denounced the film during a Q&A period afterwards. As reported by Screen International, the woman accused the filmmakers of being anti-American and flung a plastic water bottle, apparently meaning to hit the screen but instead striking actress Anna Paquin, one of the film's stars, on the head. Paquin was apparently not seriously injured. The film deals in part with arms- and drug-dealing U.S. soldiers stationed in Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

And an article on the discussion over the 'peace sign' poster, from the same source...

Miramax has found itself caught in yet another controversy over its movie Buffalo Soldiers, about a group of rogue U.S. soldiers stationed in Germany prior to the collapse of the Berlin wall. Release of the film has already been postponed twice -- once, following the Sept. 11 attacks and again after the invasion of Iraq, as studio executives worried that audiences might interpret it as unpatriotic. Now, according to the MSNBC.com "Scoop" column, the studio has been deluged with complaints about a poster for the movie, now due to open on July 25, showing star Joaquin Phoenix, dressed in military uniform, flashing a peace sign, with an American flag behind him in which the stars have been replaced with dollar signs. Above the picture are the words "Steal All That You Can Steal." The studio reportedly had planned to scrap the posters and print up new ones after it received complaints from protesters calling it anti-war and unpatriotic. When word of those plans leaked out, the studio began receiving calls from the opposition. "We heard from people who were both for and against the poster," a Miramax spokesman told the MSNBC website. "And while we respect the opinions of both parties, we've decided to let Joaquin flash his peace sign."

***

Here is a POSITIVE review of Buffalo Soldiers from The Hollywood Reporter....

Recalling the irreverent spirit of "Catch 22" and "MASH," not to mention some of the more surreal elements of "Apocalypse Now," Gregor Jordan's "Buffalo Soldiers" hits the satiric bull's-eye with deadly accuracy.

Based on Robert O'Connor's biting first novel of the same name, the dark-around-the-edges picture follows the questionable Cold War exploits of a group of American soldiers stationed in Stuttgart in 1989, mere days before the toppling of the Berlin Wall.

With a top-notch cast headed by the ever-versatile Joaquin Phoenix and assured direction by Aussie sophomore Jordan, the British-German-American co-production has the commercial goods to capture some decent boxoffice with the right marketing campaign by the right distributor.

It's the end of the Me Decade. George Dubya's dad is in the White House, and some 350,000 American soldiers are posted on 64 bases throughout southern West Germany.

They are, in the words of specialist Ray Elwood (Phoenix), "soldiers with nothing to kill except time," and they have found some interesting ways to alleviate their boredom.

For 317th Supply Battalion clerk Elwood, a dangerous mission means picking up party decorations for Mrs. Berman (Elizabeth McGovern), the wife of the sympathetic but ineffectual base commander (Ed Harris), with whom he's having a meaningless affair.

While Elwood also busies himself with various black market activities like peddling hundreds of cases of requisitioned Mop & Glo before moving onto more heavy-duty stuff like a truckload of stolen arms.

Most of the other guys on his base, meanwhile, are either totally wasted or looking to score some of the heroin being cooked by Elwood and his gang for the base's head of military police, the sadistic Sgt. Saad (Sheik Mahmud-Bey).

But Ray's little playhouse is about to be ripped down by incoming Sgt. Robert Lee (Scott Glenn), a tough-as-nails top sergeant who's determined to clean up the base. The two proceed to do some major head-butting, even as Elwood starts falling for Lee's defiant daughter (Anna Paquin).

Although all those sparks lead to an overly explosive climax, director Jordan, whose gangster comedy "Two Hands" (featuring an up-and-coming Heath Ledger) swept the Australian Film Institute Awards, does an admirable job of keeping the lively material from getting away.

Jordan also had a hand in the script, also officially credited to Eric Axel Weiss and Nora Maccoby ("Bongwater"), which, for the most, part mixes the light and dark elements with considerable skill. It even manages to quote Nietzsche without sounding pretentious.

A great deal of credit must also go to the always-compelling Phoenix, who, in opting for something with a little less intensity, assumes the character of the glib but lovable rogue with the kind of charm that very few, other than John Cusack, could pull off.

The rest of the cast, including Glenn, Harris and McGovern, goose the satirical element with equally understated finesse, while, behind the scenes, DP Oliver Stapleton ("The Cider House Rules") makes vivid use of the abandoned German army base where much of the film is shot.

[MadsenOMC]

It's been almost two years since I've seen this, but I loved it. The way it's been handled is unfortunate. I highly recommend it if it ever plays near you.

[gyro_44]

I can't believe that woman hit Anna Paquin in the head with a bottle! Why I outta....

The satire of "Buffalo Soldiers" looks completely refreshing, and it's getting very good reviews. There is bound to be some backlash for its "anti-American" stance, but frankly (and I don't mean to offend), I am sick and tired of some of the pro-American hogwash that moviegoers have been force-fed recently. I will definitely check it out if it starts near me, and I'm happy that it is seeing the light of day after many delays (even if it is just a limited release).

[badberry]

Remember the controversy over the peace sign in the poster for 'What A Girl Wants'? It's rediculous....you Americans are so silly...

(No offense to anyone personally, I'm talking about American society in general)

[JCR]

It is amusing Miramax bought the rights to this film and the contract was signed on 10th september 2001. I have a feeling they would have been less keen to buy it the day after.

It's not a bad film by any means, although the humour is a little childish (stoned soldiers in tank causing mayhem by mistake etc.) and by the end, as monty python put it, it all got too silly.

[thompsoncory]

Hasn't this film been postponed like 7 times?!?!?!

[dh1989]

Originally posted by thompsoncory
Hasn't this film been postponed like 7 times?!?!?!

Yeah, it's almost been released tons of times, but Miramax always swiftly pulled the plug, and postponed it. But it is DEFINITELY coming out this Friday... ;) Sadly, it won't come to my area (Severna Park, MD). :(

[badberry]

Originally posted by JCR
It is amusing Miramax bought the rights to this film and the contract was signed on 10th september 2001. I have a feeling they would have been less keen to buy it the day after.

It's not a bad film by any means, although the humour is a little childish (stoned soldiers in tank causing mayhem by mistake etc.) and by the end, as monty python put it, it all got too silly.

Sep. 10th? Yeah, that is pretty ironic.

I'm definately interested in seeing it when I get a chance..sounds decent enough.

[Schatten]

Sounds pretty good to me. I'm always up for an interesting Military/War film. :)

[jolanar]

(No offense to anyone personally, I'm talking about American society in general)

Thats the way 95% of American's feel about it. It's just that 5% that causes all the controversy, and they are so LOUD it just seems like everyone is saying it. When in reality is just the extreme minority.

[dh1989]

Over at Rotten Tomatoes, with 16 reviews counted, Buffalo Soldiers has a 80% positive rating. Here are two reviews of the film, one is positive, the other negative:

Film Journal International:

Buffalo Soldiers was thought too incendiary to release just after 9/11. That Miramax saw fit to release it now, barely a hiccup after 'shock and awe,' while the roll call of the fallen resounds from the networks, remains a marketing decision best understood by Harvey Weinstein. Weird timing aside, this full-metal blast at the military is dark, rough-hewn, often hilarious—and a star-maker for the electric Joaquin Phoenix.



Set in 1989 on an army base in Stuttgart just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Buffalo Soldiers zeroes in on a company of peacetime soldiers who have converted the 317th supply battalion into a thriving black-market operation. These patriots recycle Mop 'N' Glow, peddle stolen arms, and cook heroin for huge profits. Driven less by ambition and greed than simple boredom, they are 'soldiers with nothing to kill except time.' Their ringleader, specialist Ray Elwood (Joaquin Phoenix), is a convicted felon who chose three years of servitude over three months in prison. Wearing an earnest, well-meaning air that in itself sparks laughter, Elwood hornswoggles his clueless commander (Ed Harris) and sleeps with the guy's wife (Elizabeth McGovern.) Most of Elwood's fellow soldiers are either totally wasted or trying to score some of the heroin Elwood and his band cook for the base's head of military police, the thuggish Sgt. Saad (Sheik Mahmud-Bey).



The arrival of a new gung-ho 'Top' (Scott Glenn) threatens to topple Elwood's well-greased operation. A grunt sporting a Rolex and Elwood's fancy car arouse the Top's suspicions, and he quickly targets Elwood as the kingpin. To complicate matters, Elwood and the Top's kinky, rebellious daughter Robyn (Anna Pasquin) make a beeline for each other. The meat of the plot concerns the macho battle between the murderous Top and the outclassed Elwood, who's got only his wit and wits as weapons. The predictably violent denouement delivers a nastily satisfying twist.



In adapting the book by Robert O'Connor, Aussie director Greg Jordan wisely opted for stylized comedy over realism. The tone is set by the pre-credits opening: Elwood, terrified of falling, plummets in a nightmare to the pavement and lands kersplat...on the film's title. Harnessing an unsuspected flair for farce, the superbly deadpan Ed Harris pontificates at his desk before a portrait of Dubya's dad. In a hilarious highlight, two wasted soldiers wreck the neighborhood by driving a tank through a street fair and gas station, while they marvel at the beautiful orange control panel. Another outrageous scene displays TV footage of the fall of the Berlin Wall, while Elwood's heroin operation flames out of control and one stoned soldier inquires about the location of the Wall. As an updated Milo Minderbender, Phoenix has found the perfect seriocomic tone to put across his character of lovable rogue. The film's depiction of the military as a haven for heroin is unlikely to win allies among the Rush Limbaugh crowd—but the predictable howls of indignation may not harm box office either.

Slant Magazine:

Delayed after 9/11 because its unflattering portrayal of the American military might be deemed insensitive and unpatriotic, Buffalo Soldiers gets a similarly unwanted release amidst the impending U.S.-Iraq conflict. Regardless of current events, however, director Gregor Jordan’s shallow treatise on army hypocrisy can’t shake the ghosts of M*A*S*H and Catch-22. Based on Robert O’Connor’s novel, the film concerns trouble-making Ray Elwood, a convicted felon who chose three years of service over three months in prison, and now runs a racketeering operation under the nose of his eccentric and clueless superior officer, Colonel Wallace Berman (Ed Harris). It’s 1989, Elwood is stationed in West Germany right before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, and his lucrative business thrives because his German customers are willing to buy virtually anything the soldier can procure in bulk. The film wants to make a statement about how, when soldiers are given no war to fight, they find new conflicts--both external and, echoing Nietzsche, internal--to occupy themselves with, but this dreary, familiar, and ultimately jumbled mess merely repeats what its more illustrious predecessors have already done, only less successful.

Elwood is also involved in dealing heroin, and one of the film’s only inspired moments comes when three strung-out tank operators drive their vehicle through the town square and directly into a gas station’s highly flammable pumps, only to stupidly ask “Why are our monitors all yellow” once the station explodes around them. Conflict arises between our anti-hero and his new no-nonsense superior officer Sergeant Robert Lee (his name a symbol of tried-and-true American militarism), who dislikes Elwood not only because he’s profiting from the sale of drugs and stolen goods, but also because he’s dating his daughter Robyn (Anna Paquin). Yet after only 30 minutes, one gets the impression that the film hasn’t simply been sitting on the shelf since the World Trade Center attacks; it’s been undergoing massive changes in the editing room. The story becomes inadvertently elliptical when clarity should be its main objective, and thus the climactic showdown between Elwood’s supposedly rational insubordination and Lee’s bloodthirsty army loyalty comes across as hopelessly muddled. Joaquin Phoenix has a delicious time causing havoc as the conniving and charming Elwood, but the incompetent Buffalo Soldiers should have been left out on the range.

[Mike]

Originally posted by badberry
Remember the controversy over the peace sign in the poster for 'What A Girl Wants'? It's rediculous....you Americans are so silly...

(No offense to anyone personally, I'm talking about American society in general)

None taken! I'm American and I agree with you. I thought both controversies were stupid as all hell, and don't know what the big deal was. It has become so "wrong" to flash a piece sign :rolleyes:. Some people just have too much time on their hands ;).


The movie actually looks kind of decent. I didn't really know what it was about or anything, but Anna Paquin was on Conan last night, and she talked about it and they showed a clip. I think I might check it out when it hits video.

[Scarface98.9]

I find it kind of ironic that Miramax is afraid of the controversy, but this is from the same company who capitalized on the controversy of Trainspotting and The Crow, and caused some controversy with Pulp Fiction.

I'm definitely looking forward to the flick, and heads to my town. I also bought that peace sign poster from ebay :)

[Ren Hoek]

Damn, what was everyone thinking when they signed the contracts for this poor flick? Joaquin Phoenix's looks absolutely bored throughout the whole movie; Ed Harris is wasted in a thankless, underwritten part as the goodhearted but naive Colonel; Scott Glenn has nothing to do but making a grim face; an Anna Paquin... well, at least she looks cute. But the worst thing are not the performances but the simple fact that this movie absolutely fails as a comedy. One scene with the Colonel made me chuckle, but for the remaining 95 minutes I didn't hear a single giggle let alone laugh in the audience. Very much like VERY BAD THINGS, the film heavily relies on gross-out humour that simply isn't funny (like we're supposed to laugh every time someone we don't care for gets beaten up or killed... which happens every 5 minutes in this movie). Violence is used for lame throwaway gags, all characters are mere caricatures of real human beings and after a while I simply stopped giving a shit about them. While more intelligent (anti-)war comedies like M*A*S*H's or THREE KINGS' protagonists somehow succeed in combining their dark cynicism with a deeply affectionate human touch, BUFFALO SOLDIERS' nihilistic and vile attitude simply pissed me off. Props to the set designers and the always reliable Ed Harris, shame on everyone else involved in the making of this film.

- 3/10

[Sad man]

Please someone explain to me why was this movie postponed for 3 years?????

IMD link (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0252299)

[XCoRyX]

wow,after seeing joaquin on regis and kelly and seeing his clip they showed,i got a bit interested in this flick,but am waiting for it on video,like i will have to on many other films...

[dh1989]

Originally posted by Sad man
Please someone explain to me why was this movie postponed for 3 years?????

Because of controversy over the plot of the film, then 9/11, and then the war in Iraq.

[JCR]

I think the worst thing so far unmentioned here about this is the film company that part funded the movie, film four has since gone bankrupt because of this delay (well and because death to smoochy bombed) which is a shame because they made some damn fine films.

[Narst]

I liked Buffalo Soldiers, very very dark comedy. The whole movie rests on Joaquin Phoenix and I thought he did an excellent job of holding it all together with his ample amount of sarcastic humor. Ed Harris was also tremendous in playing his character the exact opposite way I was expecting him to. I can understand why some people would be pretty offended by the picture it paints of the army. As long as you're not easily offended I think it's definitely worth checking out.

[MsMoviefan]

still looking forward to this movie. I think Joaquin Phoenix and Ed Harris are great. The movie looks interesting. I'm just wondering when it will be released. I'm glad J Phoenix has lead in a movie, finally.