Good concept, poorly executed.

best movie i've ever seen.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Lidia Joanne Simmons recalls her family's tough times in Juliette, Mississippi. Her shell-shocked Vietnam-vet father Stephen Simmons (Kevin Costner) is struggling to keep any job while her mother Lois (Mare Winningham) keeps the family together. Lidia and her twin brother Stu (Elijah Wood) make peace between the girls and boys to build a tree house together. They are always bullied by the junkyard Lipnicki kids. Stephen befriends Moe Henry who helps him get a job in the mine.There is a lot of mannered southern accents especially from the kids. LaToya Chisholm is the broadest character of them all and it's somewhat bothersome. She plays the sassy black friend to its tilt. The kids have varying success and that's the problem. The movie relies on mostly amateur child actors and not all of them work well. Kevin Costner gives his wise lessons that border on preaching. This is dripping in sincerity and suffers from its heavy-handedness. The combination of Vietnam war action with a kids' coming-of-age fable creates an uneasy mix. If one's willing to buy into it, the film could be a sincere watch.

I couldn't get past the horribly awful, unauthentic Mississippi accents that most of the main actors used. The dancing routines of the young girls is a highlight of the entire film. The war scenes are not believable and Kevin Costner is highly overrated as an actor Elijah Wood is far and away the star of the cast. The overly confident attitudes of the little girls is completely unrealistic. I wanted to like this movie but it's just not very well done. The narration style is nothing new and this version of it seems like a wanna-be knock-off. If "the tree" is a real, live tree, it is a magnificent specimen and another highlight of an otherwise lackluster film.

I rarely like movies about the South because we're portrayed as stupid hillbillies, brainless boobs. But this movie treats us with respect, there is a loving tenderness to it's portrayal. I watched this movie because of Kevin Costner and loved it because of Elijah Wood's performance. There were a lot of great performances by both the children and the adults. I read the comments about preaching and sentimentality, well we tend to be a bit sentimental in the South and I make no apologies for that. This movie deserves to be seen by a wider audience. I like a big blockbuster as well as the next person but I love these smaller, character driven films. They stick in my mind and I mull them around for a while. I've watched this one many times and I still love it. The casting was perfect, Elijah was superb. The actress that played Elvadean stole every scene she was in. I realize some may think the Lipnicki's were hillbillies, but they were limited by their upbringing and would have behaved that way no matter where they lived. Whenever I spot Reinor Scheine in a movie I think about his portrayal of the Lipnicki's daddy. Unfortunately, I know someone distressingly like him. This movie is well worth watching.

The War is a species of film released in the early 90's with anti-war, anti-aggression themes that require movie-goers to commit to the view that the Vietnam War is a symbol for war's futility. It does this using a metaphor used often before-the loss of innocence; in this case, a child's. What complicates this film's approach is the child is not innocent. Stu Simmons is a struggling kid in poverty's grip fending for himself and family, while his war hero, post-trauma stressed father is trying to find his sanity. Perhaps, the father, Stephen Simmons is the innocent lost and visits it upon his family and, particularly his son. The film focuses on the need to put anger aside, forgive those who wrong you, compromise for the benefit of the community and move forward with the struggle for hope with joy in your heart. If it sounds like a sermon-it is. What makes this movie more preachy is Stu Simmons and his sister, Lidia's struggle to keep and defend a fort in a tree (a tree-house). On the surface, such stuff ranks with Lassie or My Friend Flicka, with a slightly more meaty homily and a different set of dirty-faced kids. Added to the message, in this message movie, is Lidia's attempt to bring harmony and understanding between the races. The only thing missing is world peace.Despite this overblown capsule of Hallelujahs, The War succeeds admirably for three reasons-the focus on the relationship between Stu and his father; the continual development of Stu as a mirror image of his father, only a more adult version; and a fairly sound script, which only falters when it gets on its soap box and preaches. Any writer can tell you, "show-don't tell." When the script tells us the themes, it sags. When we are shown, it shines. Fortunately, with the exception of the ending, these snippets of hallelujah are peppered throughout and absorbed by the incredible performance of Elijah Wood.That Elijah Wood carries this movie is undeniable. The viewer is captured by his skillful development of Stu Simmons and the final blossoming of the young adult. It's much like David Copperfield's journey, only ignore the Dickensian sideshow. The father-son scenes generally work, Kevin Costner giving a competent performance with only one scene with the full depth of his ability. Lexi Randall's performance as Lidia carefully blends her into her family image. You could pick her out as Stu Simmons' sister in a crowd. Unfortunately, as she has the voice overs, she get's the pulpit and the more maudlin lines. LaToya Chisholm's performance as her sarcastic black girlfriend, shines. Her timing, development and intonation are right on the money in all her scenes; and she dominates all her scenes. Mare Winningham as the mother, Lois, inhabits her role as the long suffering but supporting wife, admirably. But it is Elijah Wood's force that allows us to like this movie, admiring his style, intelligence and facial expressions. There's a Shakespearean caliber culmination scene, which rivets the viewer to the screen, much like being drawn into the vortex of the Water Tower, which figures prominently in a long list of visual symbols.Of course, when one is preaching, one knows the bottom line. After Elijah Wood delivers his forceful scene, the movie travels along predictable, if not entertaining, lines. The kiddie War is quite adult; and the denouement, the bitter-sweet happy ending, is easily forecast. After all, you can't preach to the congregation with fire and brimstone without letting them leave without a benediction. The need to tie up all the various homilies in Lidia's closing voice over and her little why life is a bowl of cherries essay, could have been left to Laura Engels.On the whole, The War is worthwhile as a showcase for Elijah Wood and is worthy of shelf space for his fans. His performance is a must for anyone who had only seen his later work in the Independants or in the massive Lord of the Rings. With an often solid script that has sometimes too much to say, this reviewer would award The War a solid B.