January 11, 2001 -- "Tigerland" is a throwback to war movies like "The D.I." and "Tribes" (also known as "The Soldier Who Declared Peace"). It tells the story of soldiers being trained for war and the all the forces that divide them and unite them. It is the story of a divided nation in miniature, with an ethnic cross-section of soldiers.

The year in 1971. At Fort Polk, Louisiana, A Company, Second Platoon, is a microcosm of the fears and doubts of an entire nation. At the center of it all is Roland Bozz (played by Irish actor Colin Farrell), a soldier wise beyond his years. He knows the army regulations the way a county clerk knows the election code. His objective, to get out of the army any way he can. Private Jim Paxton (Matthew Davis of "Urban Legends: Final Cut"), has the romantic notion to write about his war experiences as Hemingway did. Miter (Clifton Collins, Jr. of "Traffic"), wants to become a leader. Cantwell (Thomas Guiry of "U-571"), just hopes to survive, and Wilson (Shea Whigham), lusts for battle. The last stop in their training is Tigerland, a simulation of a Vietnam jungle battlefield, complete with Vietnamese village in a Louisiana swamp.

While some soldiers do not question the brutality implied by the training (such as applying high voltage current to enemy testicles) Bozz is a constant reminder of the inhumanity and ultimate futility of war. One of the soldiers, hearing some gung ho comments about the war, says the dreaded words, "Me lai" a village where American soldiers wiped out the whole population. It is a word no commanding officer wants to hear. Bozz uses his knowledge of the military code to get some of the soldiers shipped back home. This infuriates his superiors. At the same time, he cannot deny that his natural leadership abilities could also save lives on the battlefield. For Bozz, and all the other soldiers in their turn, there comes a time of reckoning. They have to make hard, life and death choices that will shape their entire futures. Not even Bozz is equipped to handle this choice.

I was a member of that generation faced with that choice. Some of my friends went to Canada. I had decided that if I was drafted, I would go to war, even though it was a dangerous war that served no clear national goals. I could have well ended up in a platoon just like the one in the movie. My attitude would have been lie low and try to stay alive until my tour of duty was up. That was the prevailing attitude of the day. The sub text of the war itself, where there were no clearly defined battle lines, where you couldn't tell civilians from the enemy, wasn't clearly stated in the movie. If you didn't bring that knowledge to the film, you missed out on some of the underlying tension.

The actors, especially Farrell, did a fine job of constructing believable characters. I found it hard to believe, however, that the Army would let Bozz get away will all the stuff he pulled. It seemed to me his commanding officers would have been tougher on him. The location shots and set design made a convincing military training backdrop to the film's drama. Cinematographer Matthew Libatique did a good job of creating dank, dark images that make the viewer feel like he's there in the swamp with the soldiers. Director Joel Schumacher ("8mm" "Batman Forever" "Batman and Robin") keeps the movie focused on the main characters and main issues. This film rates a B.

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