REVIEW: Full Metal Jacket – in 250 Words

Stanley Kubrick was a fine director, there’s no doubt about that, with a handful of classics including ‘The Shining’, ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and ‘Full Metal Jacket’. The latter of the three is within the Top 100 on IMDB with a score of 8.4, and on Rotten Tomatoes: 97%, it must be good…

Vincent D’Onofrio (centre) and the rest of the recruits

Set in 1986-87 during the Vietnam War, ‘Full Metal Jacket’ is split into two parts. The first follows a group of new U.S. Marine recruits at Parris Island for basic training, whilst the second follows Joker (Matthew Modine) in Vietnam as the Tet Offensive begins.

The performances in the film are absolutely fantastic. The scenes with Senior Drill Instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey) and his draconian approach to toughen the Marines are highly engaging, and with some terrific comedy elements too. In addition, overweight Leonard (Vincent D’Onofrio) is a really strong character and what he stands for. The whole of the first ‘Act’ is nothing short of brilliant with the dialogue being the most impressive aspect.

Unfortunately, as the film progresses to Vietnam, it loses its spark and descends quickly into a jarring sequence of events, with set pieces that never really satisfy, which all leads to a rather abrupt ending. Some characters aren’t given the time to develop, so it’s hard to really care about them.

Despite its flaws, the first act of the film is so strong that ‘Full Metal Jacket’ is worthy of being called a great film, but not quite a classic.

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