Review of Enemy

Enemy (I) (1990)
5/10
what a good actor Fonda could have been
1 May 2007
So-so reflection on the Vietnamese war, from a script probably written in the 1970s and unrevised; indicating that more thought should have gone into this project. The clothing Fonda wears is anachronistic, very much an 80s outfit, and their are plenty of details that vets and history buffs will rip on. Tia Carerra seems to want to give it her best, but is lost - the director clearly doesn't know what to do with her. Also, she doesn't look or act or sound Chinese in the least. That's a big drawback: her character really has to be as representative of her culture as Fonda's is of his.

Which brings us to the one good thing about the film: This is only later Fonda performance - other than "Limey", where he pretty much plays himself, except in the crisis scenes at the end - that shows what a good actor Fonda could have been; there's still the spark that flamed so brightly and so briefly in "Easy Rider" here. It is really a pity he did't get the roles worthy of his talent.

Other than that, the action scenes are okay, the production values are pretty poor, and the plot is a bit confused; but the film does have something to say about war in general; if only it had been better put together.
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