It's 1968 Vietnam. Capt. T.C. Doyle (Ray Liotta) arrives in a Montagnard village to meet up with Capt. Sam Cahill (Danny Glover) who has been cultivating relationship with the locals. They are in NVA territory monitoring the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The kids steal Doyle's candy bar which is later discovered by the NVA commander. In retaliation, he kills the village's only elephant. Cahill promises to replace the elephant before an upcoming festival. Doyle is unconvinced. They recruit scheming supply officer David Poole (Denis Leary), short-timer Harvey Ashford (Doug E. Doug), and Lawrence Farley (Corin Nemec). They buy the elephant Bo Tat along with his handler Linh who lost his father in the war.
It is such an odd tone. This is one of the few Vietnam war movies where fighting happens but nobody ever dies on screen. It tries to be funny but the odd sensibility strips it of its humor. All the elephant vomit and suppositories are not funny when there is an expectation of death and the movie avoids death like the plague. The whole tone is weirdly family-friendly but it could never be a kiddie movie. I wonder if Disney expects little kids to go see this movie for Dumbo. The whole thing is a bit off-putting.
It is such an odd tone. This is one of the few Vietnam war movies where fighting happens but nobody ever dies on screen. It tries to be funny but the odd sensibility strips it of its humor. All the elephant vomit and suppositories are not funny when there is an expectation of death and the movie avoids death like the plague. The whole tone is weirdly family-friendly but it could never be a kiddie movie. I wonder if Disney expects little kids to go see this movie for Dumbo. The whole thing is a bit off-putting.