We certainly know how to miss out on the really good films don't we? I'm amazed at what becomes a blockbuster and what flounders into obscurity.
We pile praises on films like "Titanic" and "The Passion of Jesus Christ" but we ignore the really good quality films that come out, and go for the glitz and the glamour.
Oh the peculiarity of the movie going human race is all I can say!
Off Limits (I saw it under the title of Saigon) was a film that really should have been a hit, it was that good.
Gregory Hines gave a solid performance as a Albaby Perkins a Military Policeman based in Saigon in the late 1960s, along with the smouldering William Defoe as his partner Buck McGriff.
Keeping the peace, having fun and doing their job is part of the game but when Saigon Prostitutes start turning up dead, they find themselves involved in a high ranking scandal that could just get them killed.
This film is not just a thriller, romance, murder mystery, or war movie, it is in my humble opinion a psychological masterpiece and it was done on a budget!
We are treated to a romance that can never be between William Defoe's character McGriff and the beautiful nun Sister Nicole played by the English Rose actress Amanda Pays along with an understated performance by the actor Raymond O'Connor. He portrays to perfection the haunted Sgt. Flowers, a man who would rather risk his life every day in the most dangerous war torn place on earth, because it is far safer than being in Saigon with the knowledge he has of the murders that Defoe and Hines are investigating.
You have a plethora of quality actors in this film, from Fred Ward, to David Keith, to Scott Glenn.
There are some great as well as grotesque moments in this film, such as the mad Colonel who does his prisoner interrogation in a chopper; his tactic to get information from his them is to throw them out of the chopper one by one. There is a shocking conclusion to this scene but I won't give it away and spoil it for you but look out for it, it is quite mind blowing!
Another quality moment is when McGriff finds his partner, playing basketball, all singed and battered after a violent attempt on their lives, we are treated to the fear and tension these men are constantly under, with no one to turn too because they are trying to expose a horrifying secret that just might go right to the top of the military flagpole.
This is an intelligent film; full of the horror of war and what it can do to you psyche as well as your physical being.
It is also a murder mystery with one hell of a twist in the tale and even though I know who "dunnit" I have watched it on several times simply because it is so good!
An underrated, under appreciated film that should stand along side the likes of, "Platoon," and "Full Metal Jacket."
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C. Burrows
A different Vietnam movie
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 13, 2019