The Thin Red Line: Unexceptionally Solid

Sometimes, ambition is a whole-hearted commitment to a tone or an idea on the part of a filmmaker, an effort to do something that's rarely or never been done before. And other times, it's a sad coat of paint reflecting little to no fundamental change at all, the cinematic equivalent of limited plastic surgery on the world's most boring woman. The Thin Red Line is that kind of movie, the kind that thinks that a few beautiful and unexpectedly artistic scenes are enough to hide the fact that it isn't doing anything new or even much of anything at all for that matter. It's a slog of a movie to get through, a competently-written story on paper that is unfortunately unwilling to try to captivate on nearly any level.

On one hand, I do want to applaud the obvious good intentions of the people behind the making of The Thin Red Line, a World War II movie that was on a mission to be more than just a World War II movie. It's a movie that tries to shed some light on the home lives and personal pursuits of the men on the ground, a noble endeavor with mixed results. There are a lot of internal monologues in this movie that, while not terribly original, add layers to the story and grant a minuscule touch of insight, a barely open window into the mind of the American soldier. But on the other hand, a lot of this ambition is sacrificed when the uninspired war movie premise of The Thin Red Line demands something, anything of it at all. The movie often gets caught between trying to be fresh and accessible at the same time, leaning too far into the "accessible" camp, and sacrificing what little about it does make it special at the altar of mass appeal.

To be sure, the Daintree rainforest is a mostly satisfactory filming location, serving as a largely great stand-in for the island of Guadalcanal. The scenery can be momentarily breathtaking, and half of the time, the movie does a great job of shuffling through the natural beauty on display. The battle sequences themselves make a mostly strong impression, and the use of practical explosives is appropriately jarring. However, problems arise when this movie inexplicably freezes for long periods of time, failing to provide much of any tonal variation for perhaps an hour. The once beautiful scenery becomes monotonous. The things that were working before start to break down as we're shown how little variation they actually cared to have. Good movies move, and The Thin Red Line has too little momentum and not enough scenery to justify it. Serious tedium starts to set in around halfway through the movie, which doesn't pursue situational variation enough and thankfully picks up some manner of a temporary head of steam when it fleetingly bothers to try.

It's undeniable that there are some moments of brief cinematic beauty to be had in The Thin Red Line, but in most ways, these brief oases make the flaws of the movie and the long stretches of tastelessness pocking it all the more difficult to bear. If I had to diagnose a cure to the acute case of monoto-nitis here, The Thin Red Line should have doubled down on many of the dream sequences that do add some intrigue, namely one recurring vision where a beautiful woman swings in the sun, her blond hair swaying in the gentle, American breeze. Moments like these are one of the few things about this movie that work exceptionally well, but to be dreadfully honest, if its fundamentals aren't working as they should, a change like this one probably won't do much to help.

It's undeniable that this movie has its moments, and for the most part, The Thin Red Line effectively portrays the brotherhood that war creates. However, is it wrong for me to say that this movie was somewhat bland and one-dimensional? It visually and thematically plays the same note over and over again, hoping that perhaps we'll understand how important this note is if it just plays it enough. It doesn't help that it's going up against an oversaturated market when it comes to World War II movies, no matter its angle of approach to storytelling. The Thin Red Line just doesn't do enough to pop out of the tall grass and say, "Look at me! I'm here! I exist!" It's not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. But to be brutally honest, it may have been less forgettable if it was.

The Thin Red Line - 7/10

Exodus 15:3-6