Courage Under Fire (1996)

Starring: Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Matt Damon, Lou Diamond Phillips, Michael Moriarty, Regina Taylor, Bronson Pinchot, Scott Glenn, and Sean Astin
Grade: A

If you wanted to see why Matt Damon became the star he is, Courage Under Fire showcases why every director in Hollywood started calling this dude.

Turns out, he had potential.

Summary

During the Gulf War, Lt. Col. Nathanial Serling (Washington) heads up a battle at nighttime. It becomes very hard to see, with everyone in their tanks and such. One of Serling’s soldiers (Astin) locks onto a target after some initial back-and-forth shooting, so Serling gives the go-ahead to blow up some tank. They destroy it, but it turns out it was one of their own. Distraught over killing a friend and colleague, Serling returns home to give a report on what happened, owning up to the tragedy. They have a guy listen to Serling, but they kind of just sweep it under the rug and give him a desk job.

Later, he considers emailing the parents of the officer he killed in action because it still haunts him. He gets a call from a reporter from The Washington Post about the whole situation in the Gulf, but he refuses comment and hangs up. He tells his superior officer, Brigadier General Hershberg (Moriarty) about the parents of the dead officer and the reporter, but Hershberg insists on keeping quiet about the whole situation, basically saying it’ll figure itself. He tells Serling that it’s like getting a second chance, implying that he’s going to get away with this whole thing if he doesn’t pursue it. He then changes the subject, saying they have been tasked with investigating to see if Captain Karen Emma Walden (Ryan) earned a posthumous Medal of Honor for a recent rescue mission resulting in her death. She is the first woman ever to be nominated for a Medal of Honor for combat. Serling meets with the group that was saved from Walden and her crew, and they speak very highly of her and the whole situation. As they leave, a White House aide (Pinchot) explains how badly they want Walden to get the Honor because of how great the publicity would be.

At home, still being haunted by the incident at the Gulf, Serling gets a call from the Post again. He hangs up on them. Following this, he’s seen drinking, and after minimal conversation with his wife Meredith (Taylor), he heads out to dig deeper into his investigation. Serling goes to question the members of Walden’s crew from that fateful day, all of whom are still alive. This includes the agitated Staff Sergeant John Monfriez (Phillips), the anxious and shell-shocked Specialist Andrew Ilario (Damon), and severely injured Sergeant Altameyer (Seth Gilliam). Early in his investigation, Serling starts to realize there are a few discrepancies with each member’s story. Monfriez calls her a coward, Ilario calls her brave, and Altameyer talks about some fire incident. This complicates thing much more than Serling would like, and it’s not something his superiors want to hear either because they’re trying to rush things along for the positive PR. However, Serling’s principles will not allow it, and he’s going to get to the bottom of what really happened on that fateful day whether the White House likes it or not.

My Thoughts:

Despite the fact that our two stars are technically never in a scene together, Courage Under Fire is another highly entertaining entry in Denzel Washington’s fantastic catalogue of films. With a wonderful supporting cast, an intriguing puzzle of a premise, and excellent performances all around, we get a very underrated drama about morality, guilt, government corruption, honesty, trauma, and war.

It all begins and ends with Denzel Washington’s outstanding portrayal of our guilt-riddled protagonist. Though Serling is a good man to his core, his insides have been torn apart from his unforgivable mistake of accidentally giving the orders to kill his own soldiers, one being a good friend. You can be an upstanding, good-hearted person all you want. You can try to do anything to make up for things you did in the past, but something like this will stay with you no matter what you do, even if it was an accident. It’s the sad truth. War is one thing but being responsible for your own men’s deaths when it could’ve been avoided is something you live with every day. With Serling, it does. He thinks about it daily, resulting in his drinking increasing and his marriage suffering. Serling’s dilemma is if he can manage to forget about the tragedy, so he can move on. His superiors are perfectly fine with this and come up with the suggestion in the first place, but Serling is a man haunted by his actions and considers closure on it every day. He constantly drifts off thinking about it, fighting the idea of talking to the parents of the friend whose death he’s responsible for. Denzel’s eyes as he zones out tells it all, as you hear the horror in the background mirroring the pain going on in his head. It’s a persistent problem and will hit him out of nowhere too, whether he’s trying to sleep or when he’s with his kids at the dinner table. This adds so much depth to every scene following it, with every word meaning something different because we know the “real” Serling and what he’s going through personally. It’s a very interesting problem hanging over his head, as he tries to concentrate on the main issue at hand.

Despite this black cloud hanging over him, he is forced to try and clear his head to solve the mystery of Captain Walden. I really enjoyed Serling as a protagonist because this isn’t the usual Denzel Washington hero we’re accustomed to. We know Serling has this dark past from the get-go. Because of this, it changes our perspective of how he approaches social situations, despite his (relatively) positive outward demeanor to people who don’t know what he did. While he moves about in his job, he has to act like this upstanding colonel judging his fellow soldiers during his investigation of a potential cover up while trying to ignore the irony about how his situation was covered up. As things get deeper and the issues start to reveal themselves, he starts to see this job as his second chance to do what’s right and not give an inch until he finds the truth.

Basically, I loved every second of it.

In one scene, we see Serling call his wife just to hear her voice. Sometimes, simply written scenes with excellent actors go a long way. In this moment, she demands to know what’s wrong with him, or anything for that matter, to help sort out his problems. She knows something is bothering Serling because he’s been broken for a while, but a wife knows something is up when you get a phone call as dramatic as this. He’s screaming for help, though he can’t say it outright and never will. On top of the horrific secret he’s harboring, he also isn’t allowed to discuss details of a pending case. To my knowledge, he’s not even allowed to discuss the Medal of Honor details either. Having a conversation and explaining his problems to the one he loves would help his mental health immensely, but he’s not even allowed to do that. This furthers his dilemma exponentially because there’s no relief to his mental anguish. Something has to give, and he’s getting pressure from everyone around him, including his own personal self. What’s his response after all this? He sadly states, “I can’t”, hanging up the phone. There’s a lot going on in this film, but this simple, well-crafted scene was such a great way to present the pressures of Serling’s conundrum to us.

Trauma is the key here, and it becomes a different problem for everyone involved in Walden’s case. It was very compelling to see everyone’s contrasting stories and reactions to what happened the day she died, as well as how the soldiers are today. Matt Damon was gripping as the drug addicted medic who clearly knows more than he leads on. He’s got the perfect look for it, looking deathly skinny in his face. His personal scars from that day speak volumes as he tries to hold back on details, though he shakes to his core saying as much as he does. Damon cultivates this aura of anxiety, nervously chain smoking to the understanding and calm Denzel, and it’s just one of the many well-acted scenes that make up this wonderful mystery surrounding Captain Walden.

Lou Diamond Phillips was also very good as the absolute douche bag of the crew.

A very entertaining part of the film was seeing the different members of the crew recount the events, with the film cutting to very different flashbacks of the scene with each person. They all remember it, but certain details (the most important one’s) are very inconsistent. Damon’s IIario makes Walden sound like John Wayne while Phillips’ Monfriez makes her sound like Lou Costello. Monfreiz’s story was actually pretty funny too. It’s even better when Serling reacts to both iterations of what happened, in the classic, smooth Denzel style we love. Washington has this ability as an actor in which he can smile and laugh at certain details of the soldiers’ stories, sounding like he’s having a good time, but switch up and act as if he’s ready to fight at any given moment. However, it always feels natural. As empathetic as Serling can be, he will not allow any bullshit. He’s not to be fucked with and when Serling makes it known he’s going to find out the answer one way or another, he means that shit. Secretly, they know it too, especially Ilario. You can tell he was going to be a ticking time bomb of information. That’s why you can’t wait for him to go back out for a second round to see Monfriez or IIario because you know business is picking up. The first round is to get an idea of who we’re dealing with. Round two is when we get answers!

Side note, I enjoyed all the red tape with the military and how willing they are to cover anything up for their top officials.

Talk about realistic!

Serling is their guy, and they make it clear to him that as long as he plays ball, the horrible tragedy he was responsible for will go away. Sounds awful, right? Unfortunately, we all know this happens in real life. It’s just how the world works. Thankfully in the film, Serling knows this is wrong and that’s what keeps things interesting because we wonder how honorable of a man he will decide to be, whether it be regarding his investigation or what happened not too long ago in the Gulf. It’s very satisfying to see Serling refuse to partake in the bureaucratic bullshit he’s forced to be involved in, giving us some semblance of hope in a government filled with corruption and morals that shift depending on who’s involved in the situation. When you watch this movie and think about the many that would go along with what their superiors say to keep their spot in real life, it makes Serling a better hero because of it. The ending is very good too. It’s oddly reminiscent of Matt Damon in The Bourne Supremacy, but much more poignant.

We have seen a lot of the same situations, themes, and topics presented in many other films before this one, but because of how well the material is handled by everyone involved, Courage Under Fire still feels new and exciting. They give a lot of intriguing internal conflict to our main character, and it’s masterfully played by a broken (but still cool as hell) Denzel Washington. The supporting cast of characters are very good and are vital to making the film work, Meg Ryan does a solid job at playing each version of the Walden character the soldiers talk about in their contrasting stories, and the mystery being uncovered by Serling is entertaining enough to keep you invested all the way through. Serling takes on all comers and doesn’t back down in the face of anyone, despite being by his lonesome in a government full of people more powerful than him. Even so, he’s too proud to back down to bad people. Essentially, it’s a role tailor-made for Washington. There wasn’t much fighting in this “war” movie, but it wasn’t needed because the in-fighting between our own troops, Serling and the higher-ups through arguments, and the shady practices from everyone involved was enough to keep you hooked throughout the course of the film.

If you love seeing some classic Denzel and dishonesty being fought at all angles, Courage Under Fire is definitely worth your time.