Soldato Jane

It's easy to film a star faking the Navy Seal training. The key line of the movie is uttered by Demi Moore when she is beaten to a bloody pulp by Master Chief in training while the rest of the trainees watch. She gets up and spits out "suck my dick" thereby claiming a virtual penis so that she can offer the ultimate insult to Master Chief and become an honorary male to the cheers of the men. At no point does the movie ever deal with the way men would really react to a good looking woman in their midst while undergoing a trial which most of them fail in real life. This is feminist propaganda turned into sensational Hollywood entertainment that belies the truth and turns GI Jane into a another racist she male who can gun down expendable lesser breeds such as Arabs with the best of them on their secret mission to Libya.

I fully admit I am not the biggest Demi Moore fan in the world. As a matter of fact, she's been in some of my least favorite movies of the decade (A FEW GOOD MEN, INDECENT PROPOSAL, THE SCARLET LETTER, THE JUROR, STRIPTEASE), and she really hasn't been good in any of those. But she did win me over in this movie, because she lives up to her character's line, "Look, I'm not trying to make any sort of statement here." And she isn't. Instead of letting vanity get in the way, or injecting pathos, she lets her actions speak for her, just like her character does in trying to win acceptance as a SEAL. The haircut scene is a good example; though it's directed with cinematic flourish, she does it matter-of-fact.

Moore's performance is one of the two performances that elevate this from your standard grunts-become-soldiers movie. The other is the riveting Viggo Mortenson as the Master Chief, who's the drill instructor. He doesn't play the role as a sadistic tyrant, but rather as a subtle manipulator who gradually recognizes Jordan O'Neill(Moore) is someone worth taking seriously. He also avoids going for pathos.

The movie is best when it concentrates on the training. Ironically, making just a standard grunts-become-soldiers movie makes its message work, because like O'Neill's superiors, we take her seriously because she becomes no different than anyone else. The beginning is bad, and the climatic battle at the end is overblown, which weakens the movie. Still, it's worth a look, and I maintain Moore was only given a Razzie Award for this movie and performance because of her past work, and the naysayers really weren't paying attention to her performance here.

Demi Moore shines with shiners and a bit more in an often brutal film about the first woman to enter the elite Navy SEALS training. While some scenes in the movie, such as the confusing end battle, seem a little out of place (exactly who were the trainees fighting?) the film moves along with startling pace and precision. Moore, who as everyone knows shaved her head for the role of Jordan O'Neill, is tough but feminine and internally vulnerable as a woman scorned by her male teammates. The most violent scene in the film comes during the survival exercise in which O'Neill is bashed around by the Master Chief. It's gruesome but necessary, and O'Neill earns her fellow trainees' support during the ordeal.

This movie received lot's of hate and to be honest I can only assume it was due to bad publicity.

It has a great cast who all play their parts well. Demi Moore got a razzie for this which is totally unjustified as she plays her part really well. It has great music and is definitely in the list of good Ridley Scott movies.

I'd put it up with "Jarhead", "Tigerland" or "Heartbreak Ridge" any day of the week.

Recommended.

This movie was good as far as accuracy to the military as a whole. The one real problem I had with it was the fact that Demi Moore did extra physical training while she was supposed to be in her rack. I'm sorry I don't care what kind of metabolism you have, or even if you have extra respiratory organs, you can't do more training than what they already do in the SEAL program and cut-out sleep and expect to get stronger that way. If anything you'd eventually tire yourself into a chronic state of fatigue and get yourself disqualified.