By Amanda Ack, Film Critic
Full Metal Jacket hurts. It is physically painful to watch. And yet, for the full 116 minutes of its runtime, I couldn’t look away from the screen. By turns coldly horrifying, sickly funny, and deeply tragic, it’s a vicious gut-punch of a movie that more than deserves its iconic status.
Directed by Stanley Kubrick and released in 1987, the film follows a group of young U.S. Marines as they make their way through basic training in preparation for service in the Vietnam War. In the second half, the focus narrows to one of the recruits, “J.T. ‘Joker’ Davis,” who serves in the war as a military journalist.
The subject matter is obviously heavy, and Kubrick pulls no punches. In fact, his directorial style can best be described as merciless. Even the most shocking shots are framed with a certain elegance that renders the viewer powerless against their brutal beauty.
As for the cast, they rise admirably to the film’s challenges. The most memorable performance comes from Vincent D’Onofrio as “Leonard Lawrence,” a bumbling oaf of a recruit who cracks under the pressure of basic training. It’s a role that could have easily lent itself to campy scenery chewing, but Mr. D’Onofrio plays it with enough subtlety and truthfulness to it to save it from such a fate.
All in all, Full Metal Jacket probably isn’t a movie for everyone, but if you’ve got the guts for it, it’s a must-see. It’s a cruel, haunting masterpiece that will stay with you long after the credits have rolled.
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