By Doug Berg
One of the real pleasures in the slate of movie releases in 1996 is Courage Under Fire starring Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan. I think it’s the best movie I’ve seen in the last year, maybe two. The setting is the Gulf War, Desert Storm, 1991. Denzel Washington plays the part of a senior officer who is dealing with 2 conflicts. The first concerns his investigation of the death in combat of a young woman who is to be posthumously awarded the medal of honor. The further he investigates this issue, the more confusing it becomes as to whether the young woman acted heroically or cowardly under fire. Each time Washington interviews one of her fellow soldiers, their version of the incident in question is portrayed in a flashback. Meg Ryan plays the young woman and does a superlative job. The other conflict comes up early in the movie and then is placed on the back burner until late in the movie, yet the viewer knows it is eating at Washington, the main character, all the time. It concerns the fact that a tank, which Washington commanded in the heat of battle, mistakenly fired on another U.S. tank, killing an American soldier. Washington is tortured by this, and leaves his family and engages in bouts of drinking. Compounding the issue is the fact that the military is trying to cover up the incident. It would be easy for Washington to go along with the cover-up and let it exonerate him. His wrestling with this issue as he investigates the other issue is compelling drama. As I said, Courage Under Fire did not make a big box office splash. However, if you want to see a movie with a good plot, intriguing moral dilemmas, and solid acting, don’t miss it.