G.I. JANE

Despite the warning that the men will eat cornflakes out of her skull, she seizes the day.

G.I. Jane brings the military to the masses with a pleasantly simplistic and perhaps over-explained story. Anne Bancroft plays a tough-as-nails politician with a shady agenda, who fights to win women the right to serve in branches of the military historically unavailable to them. As part of this effort, Lieutenant O'Neil (Moore) is offered the opportunity to train as the first female Navy SEAL. It goes without saying that Lieutenant O'Neil has a difficult time. Training is akin to torture (or at least a p.e. class that never ends), and the men are reluctant to treat her like a comrade. Her spirit remains unbroken, though, and she decides to get tough. She shaves her head to the tune of a Pretender's song, and sets out to perform every bit as well as the guys.

Viggo Mortensen plays the poetry quoting Master Chief Urgayle, and sports a creepy little moustache and short shorts (are those really Navy regulation?). No wonder I didn't notice him when I watched this movie seven years ago! His performance is seamless and complex, though, and Urgayle is so ruthless that it's hard to tell where he's coming from. At times it seems that he's trying to undermine O'Neil, but he's the one who chastises one of the men for excluding her. He's also the one who declares that when it comes to women in the military, "They're not the problem, we are!" (meaning the men). Ultimately it seems he's only trying to illustrate the reality of incorporating a woman in SEAL operations.

By contrast, good old Anne Bancroft, who made all this possible, proves only to have her own interests at heart. Early in the film, her character meets with O'Neil and asks if she has a nice solid man at home... you know, just in case anyone wants to allege that O'Neil is a lesbian... like, ahem, her. Turns out, this little experiment is costing her votes, so she manufactures a scandal to get rid of O'Neil. The whole thing is typical, but it's disappointing to see women working against each other in this context.

The most glaring flaw in the film however, relates to the valid question of female strength. As Urgayle explains, male SEALS are hesitant to depend on female officers in combat, because few women can physically carry a man to safety. When O'Neil and the gang go into the field for the first time, a series of unfortunate events lead to Urgayle being shot in the knee. O'Neil valiantly enters the line of fire to bring him in. It's supposed to be a pivotal moment in the film, but it only illustrates that a woman can't lift a man. Though she may offer cover and moral support, she simply pulls him by the sleeve as he drags himself through the sand. She might as well shoot herself and the argument in the foot.

None of this matters in the end, though, as G.I. Jane is built to be exhilarating and moving despite its shortcomings. Like Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, Ridley Scott knows how to make action films that defy analysis. It has been explained to me that Top Gun makes no sense if you analyze it, but I never have and don't plan to. Il go back again and again because it's a great ride, and I'll do the same with G.I. Jane.