Red Tails
Bottom Line: Red Tails veers itself into the red zone.
Directed by: Anthony Hemingway
Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., Daniela Ruah, David Oyelowo, Elijah Kelley, Gerald McRaney, Kevin Phillips, Nate Parker, Ne-Yo, Terrence Howard, Tristan Wilds
For quite a long time, I have truculently held on to a strong belief about how films display war. A certain part of me finds it painful when filmmakers make war films to glorify the subject matter, rather than to present the grief felt by those involved. Just as many of us likely do, I know a handful of individuals who have fought for us in war, and I am sure they would agree that war movies should by no means be mere action movies and nothing more. I see absolutely no justification for it.
“It is only the dead who have seen the end of war.” –Plato
It appears as if screenwriters John Ridley and Aaron McGruder–as well as most of the visual credits–carry little respect toward those who risk their lives in war on a daily basis. Having seen emotionally harrowing films that convey the subject matter, films that scream “war is hell” without any characters needing to say it, I know I would never, ever, ever want to fight in a war. If this was the only war film I had ever seen, I would be quite excited to enlist. The film makes war look like a flamboyant, addicting video game: fun to engage in, exhilarating, fast-paced, and making one eager to visit again.
Ironically, RED TAILS possesses not one of those qualities. It’s downright boring and slow, and I’d be surprised if I ever decided to give it another shot. The film lacks a plot. It has a premise, but no particular plot. Set in Italy during World War II, this is a ramshackle chronicle centered on four colored–excuse me, I meant Negro, because apparently that’s what they prefer–pilots who are finally given a chance to prove themselves worthy of the Air Force, despite heavy discrimination abundant below them. It’s quite disappointing how such an interesting premise collapsed into a repetitive production. Let’s start out with…action! Negotiation. Action! Negotiation. Action! You get the picture.
RED TAILS is a potentially unsatisfying film. It has its moments, but it’s mostly difficult to watch. I’ll close this review by asking you, dear readers, to listen to the song “War” by Edwin Starr. Every time Mr. Starr drops the word “war”, mentally substitute in “Red Tails”. You may hear a bit of exaggeration, but otherwise, the description works perfectly.
I wondered how this was. I’m sorry to hear it wasn’t all that great.
I was the one who had to sit for the overlong two hours. You don’t have to apologize, unless apologizing involves stoning the director for his lighthearted depiction of such a downbeat, emotional topic.
When I saw it was PG-13 it put up major red flags. I’m not saying it has to be gory to work, but it does take some of the adult element out of it when it isn’t R.
Hmm…I wouldn’t say a war movie has to be exactly adult. Have you seen Howard Hughes’s Hell’s Angels? It’s fairly tame, considering it passed the Hays code in 1931, it’s a war movie, and it’s spectacular. I don’t think the violence and profanity of an R rated movie is necessarily needed to generate the tragic grief faced by soldiers.
True. Sometimes I get on my soap box about so many PG-13 movies these days. In the end it could be G as long as the story and script are good enough. It sounds like it just wasn’t written all that well.
Oh it’s more than that.
The film has cornball dialogue and a poor narrative, and despite the talented cast and director Anthony Hemingway (who worked on The Wire, one of the best TV shows ever made), the movie just doesn’t work. Red Tails doesn’t tell much about war as films like Apocalypse Now or Saving Private Ryan, which is too bad. A subject like the Tuskegee Airmen should make a better film. Nice review.
Those two films you named I still have to see, so thanks for reminding me.
Yeah… no, thanks. Besides, it stars Cuba Gooding and that’s never a good sign.
I’ve heard everybody wanted him in their movies after Jerry Maguire, but he copped out for every performance. I have Jerry Maguire on hold at the library.
Haven’t seen it but I’m interested because CGJ won an Academy Award for that. They say his Oscar was cursed, though, as he hasn’t been in a good movie since.
Yep. Also ordered Fargo.
One of my favorites. McDormand and H. Macy are perfect.
It’s a black comedy, so I’ll probably love it.
I was hoping “Red Tails” would be a great movie addressing the race issues the airmen faced in an in-depth way, but it looks like this movie fell short. I was talking about this movie with my co-worker from Dish; he is a history buff, and was also disappointed with this movie. I will take a chance and watch this movie with my Blockbuster @home account. I added this to the top of my dvd list, and will pick this up from the store instead of waiting for it in the mail. There are also great documentaries about the Tuskegee Airmen that are worth watching.
Be sure to let me know what you think, Mikala. It’s not very in-depth, so hopefully the “dogfights” will strike you as entertaining, at the very least. Thanks for commenting.
“…this is a ramshackle chronicle centered on four colored–excuse me, I meant Negro, because apparently that’s what they prefer…”
You write this sarcastically, as if this is inaccurate. Over the years, the terms by which African-Americans have preferred to be called have changed a few times. “Negro” was once considered to be the politically correct term, while “black” was considered offensive. At some point between the 1960s and 1970s, the terms sort of switched re: which one was considered offensive and which one was not.
If, in fact, your sarcasm did not denote a perceived inaccuracy, I’m curious to know why you wrote it.
It’s because of a scene in the film (and I’m really flabbergasted that I remember it): the Tuskegee Airmen are called “colored” by a Caucasian; they interrupt him and tell him in unison that it’s [enunciated] “Negro.”
Interesting factoid you have there.