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Writer's pictureJames Rutherford

'Tigerland': A Galvanizing and Provocative Vietnam War-Era Military Drama


Movie poster for the film Tigerland starring Colin Farrell and Matthew Davis

A resounding human drama courtesy of veteran filmmaker Joel Schumacher ("The Lost Boys", "A Time to Kill"), “Tigerland” (2000) is a Vietnam-era military drama that follows a squadron of U.S. Army recruits preparing for active duty in the waning years of the Vietnam conflict.


Assigned to Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Polk, Louisiana in 1971, many of the green young draftees openly pine to dodge military service altogether, with the exception of Jim Paxton (Matthew Davis), an aspiring writer who enlists in the hopes of propelling his career as a journalist. Paxton’s closest ally within the squadron is Roland Bozz (Colin Farrell), a conscientious objector who fiercely rebels against the war and against all forms of military authority.


Built around the advanced stages of military training, "Tigerland" is a galvanizing human drama centered on Bozz’s open defiance against military authority, and Farrell (in his star-making debut) delivers a dynamite performance as the smart, savvy and wholly individualistic Bozz—one of the great cinematic rebels of the 21st century.

 

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