US invasion of Grenada is the event that some historians view as the turning point of Cold War. Control over small Caribbean island nation might not have meant much in the grand scheme of things, but the operation proved to be the first clear American military success since Vietnam humiliation and gave enough confidence to Reagan’s America to take course which would result in the end of Soviet Union and establishment of American hegemony over the rest of the world. This event was, however, all but ignored by Hollywood and American popular culture. The rare film to deal with it was Heartbreak Ridge, 1986 war film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood.
Eastwood also stars in the film, playing US Marine Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway, Korean War veteran decorated with Congressional Medal of Honor. The plot begins in July 1983, few months before Highway’s long career, which also included participation in Vietnam War, is to end with mandatory retirement. Highway wants to end it in his old unit, 2nd Marine Reconnaissance Battalion, but soon experiences enmity of commanding officer Major Malcolm Powers (played by Everett McGill), who sees the old hard-drinking veteran as anachronism in modern military. Highway is assigned to reconnaissance platoon commanded by inexperienced Lieutenant Ring (played by Boyd Gaines) where he finds most of the soldiers undisciplined and way below his standards. He decides to change that and begins unconventional and rigorous training intended to teach them essential combat skills. In the meantime, he also tries to get in touch with his ex wife Aggie (played by Marsha Mason) who works as waitress in nearby bar. Few months later, Highway and his men are given orders to take part in military operation which is supposed to rescue American citizens from the troubled island backed by Communist Cuba.
Eastwood is known as one of the rare right-wingers in Hollywood and because of that some critics were prone to see this film as militaristic flag-waving propaganda very much in the same vein as Top Gun. This film, however, takes more realistic approach to military life, partly due to script being written by Vietnam War veteran James Carabatsos. Eastwood served in US Army during Korean War (although far from actual battlefield) and his character was originally supposed to be US Army veteran. However, US Army refused to the back the film. US Marine Corps did, which prompted the change in the script and also allowed the invasion to be realistically reconstructed with spectacular display of ships, helicopters and other military equipment (US Marine Corps later officially distanced itself from the film over foul language and protagonist’s hard drinking). There is actually very little combat in the film, which appears only at the end. The action looks non-spectacular, although some of the more interesting details were based on actual real events during the invasion.
Eastwood seems less interested in action and instead puts more emphasis the character study. He plays the protagonist very well, as a man who has to deal with age and with the country and military that changed through the decades more than he did. His performance dominates over the other members of the cast, with possible exception of Mario Van Peebles who plays initially very annoying character of Corporal “Stitch” Jones, Marine who also happens to be aspiring rock musician. Van Peebles, who learned playing guitar for this role, ultimately manages to become likeable for the viewers. Marsha Mason, on the other hand, can’t overcome limitations of her role, with romantic subplot that doesn’t do much apart from increasing running time. Some problems of this film are partially compensated by Eastwood’s frequent collaborators – cinematographer Jack N. Green and composer Lennie Niehaus – who make this production look and sound good. Although it uses one of America’s splendid little wars as nothing more than exotic setting and, therefore, is useless as serious history lesson, Heartbreak Ridge deserves recommendation as good display of Eastwood’s acting and film making skills.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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