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Courage Under Fire

1996

Edward Zwick

Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Lou Diamond Phillips, Scott Glenn ...

5.6

7,745

War. Drama Following the 1991 Gulf War, Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Serling (Denzel Washington) is assigned to review the background of the late Captain Karen Walden (Meg Ryan), who has been posthumously nominated for a medal of honor. While investigating Walden's candidacy, Serling is forced to face his own disillusionment and guilt surrounding the war.

	Media	Author	Review
		Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"Zwick's direction handles the many conflicting story possibilities with great clarity (...) A fascinating emotional and logistical puzzle (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"
		Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"Zwick has directed one of the best and gutsiest films of this sorry year by trying to grab hold of the shifting ground of what defines bravery."
		Variety	"[It] treats its subject with clarity and intelligence (...) [It] offers plenty of old-fashioned movie virtues such as believable action, plausible psychology, fully played-out confrontations and honest emotions"
		Janet Maslin The New York Times	"The leanest and most gripping of Mr. Zwick's feature films (...) if only because it plays so skillfully by familiar rules."
		Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader	"A good, solid, intelligent drama (...) Denzel Washington very effectively plays a lieutenant colonel"
		Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly	"A melodrama done with prestige solemnity, though as melodramas go it’s engrossing and fully felt."
		Ian Nathan Empire	"It's a well-mounted spin on the Rashomon principle, and while the denouement is limp, the build up is exemplary (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"

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