"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.
Review of The War
