I am a musician who loves soul and a sucker for war movies, so this movie would have to be pretty bad for me to dislike it. Was it perfect? No, far from it - but parts were darned near. That the only face on the screen I knew was one I quite like (Chris O'Dowd) and the lead female (Deborah Mailman) ate the camera up - a refreshing thing to see an unconventional beauty do. Without giving overmuch away, the good: The back story is heartbreaking, the Vietnam bits looked great, the main actors were excellent. The bad: Some of the performances seemed a bit canned, the lead singer sounded like a '90s pop star (with even some auto-tuner) and not everyone on camera was much of an actor - but it's an indie film, so I'm willing to forgive.
If you enjoyed The Commitments, know you some 'Nam films, know something about Australia & the sad treatment of the Aboriginal people and you like old soul music, you'll like this movie. It struck me as nearly a perfect date movie for folks willing to think just a bit, with things for guys and gals alike.
