The War (1994)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Please don't spend money on this.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Though on the surface it might be seen as yet another movie about poverty in Mississippi (which is, by the way, the poorest State in the US) or about the impact of the Vietnam War on the family of veterans, "The War" exceeds expectations on several fronts: presentation, complexity, candidness, and good acting. The story is narrated from the point of view of 12-year old Lidia, played excellently by Lexi Randall, with the acceptance kids usually have at that age ("…we are dirt poor, like everyone else in Juliette, Mississippi" - she tells us right of the start). Though she is white, she befriends two black girls the same age, sharing social condition and taste for music, with some hiccup due to her use of language blacks don't like others to use on them. She is "tough" as kids in that environment usually are, yet "girlish" in step with her age. She is the one sensitive enough to realize how others feel and has the guts to naturally stand for them, though she struggles to understand her father. Her brother Stu, about the same age, played impeccably by Elijah Wood, is eager, as most boys at that age are, to get close to his father, and in the period they manage to do it he puts is heart in the basket, at great risk. The father, also played impeccably by Kevin Costner, is troubled by war nightmares and the lack of a stable job, but has the courage to eliminate violence from daily living, aiming to show it to his kids by example, against the pressure for violence from the environment they live in, and to be as good a father as he can in the given circumstances. The kids are at the front of events throughout the film, and the story brilliantly shows us how a rivalry with a group of poorer and tougher kids, centered on the use of a tree house made by the former with materials stolen from the latter, gradually escalates into a dangerous "juvenile war", much the way political conflicts often escalate into wars among nations. "No matter how much people think they understand war, war doesn't understand people", the girl concludes; thus we all lose. The War goes on at several levels: Kids fighting in the forefront, Vietnam in the background, and the inner struggles of the main characters, being this latter what truly gives depth to the story. Drama is sparkled with hope, humor and coziness, the way it is in life, with very few cheesy scenes. This movie is more that entertainment: it triggers our critical thinking, our capacity for understanding, and leaves a haunting feeling long after is done. Recommendable as a family film for discussion, meaning kids 12 or older with some level of maturity. Not for younger kids.

"The War' is one of the best emotional father and son films, I ever seem. The relationship between Kevin Costner and Elijah Wood is just wonderful. The film deals with a lot of social issues such as the cause of war and the aftermath of it, failure in life, classism and poverty lines, racism and dealing with death. Family is a strong theme in this movie. Kevin Costner plays Stephen Simmons, a returning Vietnam vet who seeks to build a better life for his wife and children in 1970's Mississippi. Costner is great as the tortured soul trying to teach his young son the value of lessons he had learned during the war. There is a bit of Atticus Finch in his performance that mirrors Gregory Peck. Kevin Costner is brimming with positive lessons on social consciousness, but struggles to be a breadwinner for his family due to post-traumatic stress disorder from his service in the Vietnam War. While this is going on, Simmons children, Stu (Elijah Wood) and Lidia (Lexi Randall) are feuding with an even poorer family of neighbors, the Lipnickis, over access to a tree fort that Stu and Lidia built. Elijah Wood is not bound to his cuteness which is proved very well by his performance here and in numerous other movies as well. Elijah was such a great child actor here. No one like him these days as far as child actors, he just had that natural passion that exudes when he performed. This young man has his own battles and demons to face in an ongoing feud with a family of roughnecks and bullies. The talk between him and Kevin Costner are amazing. There are countless scenes which a parent can take out to teach their children about life lessons. One example would be the 'cotton candy' scene. Lidia is a smart girl whose imagination is fully developed. She processes her experiences and her father's wisdom in an essay that celebrates love, courage, and caring. She sports a great narrator. There is a sub-plot in the film dealing with Lindia in summer school dealing with an over the top racist teacher. Christine Baranski played the racist teacher, but her performance is so cartoony, but without her. We wouldn't have one of the best scenes in the film. The only other noticeable supporting child character would be Elvadine (LaToya Chisholm) and this is where she shines. Elvadine did a fabulous job on her monologue, but it is the last few seconds that gets me. I thought Elvadine's speech and cadence, gave such a great performance for an actress so young. Elvadeen is a hoot. While this story defers the movie from its main story-arch, it's a brilliant stand-alone plot line. The Linicki's children are brutal. The amount of child to child violence might alarm some parents. That's how mean people are. They thrive on making others feel bad so they can feel better about themselves. Seeing how the Lipnicki's father is, you understand why. I think the one thing the Lipnicki kids were jealous of was that Stu and Lydia had a father that couldn't give them much, but he gave them his love unconditionally. The Simmons and Linickis are fighting against each other over a tree fort. It's serves as a MacGuffin, protagonist and antagonist willing to do and sacrifice almost anything to pursue, protect or control, often with little or no narrative explanation as to why it is considered so important. It's represent how much people are willing to battle each other, over something so simple. The gut- wrenching whole story is amazing, sad but true that bad things happen to the good people. Pretty much shows how unfair life really is. Still it's the richest, most realistic and revealing story ever made about the moral challenges of parenting. The lyrical and spiritually resonant screenplay by Kathy McWorter presents the engaging portrait of a father who, through bad times as well as good ones, shares with his son and daughter the ideals he believes give life meaning and purpose. In addition, his compassionate deeds create a legacy that goes beyond wealth or words. This whole movie is great it really makes me realize the things I take for granted. I will definitely recommend this movie to friends. Fabulously written and portrayed scene from a very much underrated movie. Oscar worthy performances from the predominantly child cast. The music is great as well. Thomas Newman never fails to impress, capturing that emotional feel in every movie he composes and love hearing those 1960's pop hits. Parents are often hard-pressed in the midst of dealing with life's unrelenting problems to find the right time and the right words to pass on to their children the values they cherish. It's nice to see a movie that deals with teaching the children about morality.

The War is a low-key period and mood piece, with some depth. It gives Kevin Costner something useful to do with his propensity to take himself seriously (often too seriously), but the film belongs to the young Elijah Wood.Stu (Wood) and Lidia (Lexi Randall) are the children of Stephen (Costner) and Lois (Mare Winningham) Simmons. They are a poor family, aspiring to better themselves, but their ambitions have been obstructed by the baggage Stephen has brought back from Vietnam. The two children take themselves off to build a treehouse. In the course of this, they end up in conflict with the poor white trash Lipnicki children from the neighbouring scrapyard.This slight premise actually generates a story which is gripping, constantly holds the attention, and which draws parallels between the war Stephen has returned from, the war which develops between the Simmonds and Lipnicki children, and which subtly poses the question of what is worth fighting for.All the actors here give wonderful performances, without exception, but the children are particularly good across the board. And, having said that, it is not unfair to single out Elijah Wood. At the age of 13, he does not show the promise which led to later high profile roles: rather, that promise is already fully realised here. He is magnificent.

During one summer in the late 1960's, a treehouse in rural Mississippi becomes the symbolic heart behind a tug-of-war between a freshly-scrubbed group of school-kids and a bunch of bullying, junkyard teenagers. Predictable and somewhat overreaching family-oriented drama shoehorns in Kevin Costner as the father of two of the central good kids; he's just back from Vietnam and still hears the choppers, but we know he's in big trouble once he puts everything on the line to take a dangerous mining job. Mare Winningham plays his wife, who frets over every penny but tells her daughter not to badmouth her dad (the man has dreams, after all). There are lots of heart-to-heart chats, a visit to an old ramshackle house that might one day belong to the family, and a battle for that fort in the tree which never quite leads anywhere. Mostly, this is a noble, decent picture with precious few surprises, the exception being director Jon Avnet's decision to prolong the scenes of bullying, with the deep-seated anger eventually spilling over to the adults. It's like an episode of "The Waltons" crossed with "Stand By Me". *1/2 from ****