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As Good As It Gets

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I had three main problems with "Enemy": a) neither of the two main characters (and they are they only characters that matter) are worth rooting for, b) it is padded with footage of those two characters walking through the jungle, c) the Vietnamese soldiers can't shoot worth a damn, even when the "heroes" are standing right in front of them. To be fair, the first 15 minutes or so are pretty good, but the rest of the movie basically consists of long periods of walking interrupted by a few ineffective action sequences. Looking at Tia Carrere's flawless, astonishingly beautiful face is the main pleasure here. Oh, the film also has the slowest-motion-death-scene ever, it literally takes the guy a whole minute to fall down. *1/2 out of 4.

So-so reflection on the Vietnamese war, from a script probably written in the 1970s and unrevised; indicating that more thought should have gone into this project. The clothing Fonda wears is anachronistic, very much an 80s outfit, and their are plenty of details that vets and history buffs will rip on. Tia Carerra seems to want to give it her best, but is lost - the director clearly doesn't know what to do with her. Also, she doesn't look or act or sound Chinese in the least. That's a big drawback: her character really has to be as representative of her culture as Fonda's is of his.Which brings us to the one good thing about the film: This is only later Fonda performance - other than "Limey", where he pretty much plays himself, except in the crisis scenes at the end - that shows what a good actor Fonda could have been; there's still the spark that flamed so brightly and so briefly in "Easy Rider" here. It is really a pity he did't get the roles worthy of his talent.Other than that, the action scenes are okay, the production values are pretty poor, and the plot is a bit confused; but the film does have something to say about war in general; if only it had been better put together.

"Fatal Mission" or "Enemy" is a well-made Vietnam drama. Peter Fonda plays a special ops soldier who assassinates a Vietnam leader. He escapes into the jungle and meets Mai (Tia Carrere). She is a spy. At first they are enemies, but they figure out they need to stay together to survive.The only problem in the movie is the ending. It's a little abrupt. There's a hint of a conspiracy in the plot, but it doesn't get mentioned until the last half of the movie.Besides that, it's worth watching for the performances and action sequences.For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com