Written by special “The Film Nest” guest contributor, Rob R. (Raging Rob in the Comments section).

Director Joel Schumacher is best remembered as the director that killed the Batman franchise in the 90’s. After Tim Burton’s two gritty Batman films, Burton left the franchise, and Joel Schumacher took the reins. What audiences got was an even campier version of the sixties television series. The Schumacher films were a neon filled, nipples on the bat-suit, train wreck. As bad as those films were, I was surprised that the same director could be responsible for Tigerland, a small-scale film about the Vietnam war.

The film Tigerland, takes place at Fort Polk, Louisiana in 1971, near the end of the Vietnam War. The name Tigerland, refers to the Army’s own creation of a highly realistic training center, that is as close to Vietnam as any soldier can get before they’re actually shipped to the war. The story surrounds the young men who are sent to Fort Polk to get just enough training to not get themselves killed overseas. The film introduces us to Roland Bozz, (Colin Farrell) as he has just been released from the stockades and rejoins his platoon. Bozz is the guy that everyone in his platoon wants to stay away from because of his penchant for trouble making and his disregard for any of the Army’s rules or regulations.

"Whoever blinks first loses - got it?"

Bozz also has the unique reputation of being able to get anyone out of having to serve in the war.  The other members of the platoon are Paxton (Matthew Davis), a guy who wants to go to war to write a book about the romantic idea of the whole experience. There is also Miter (Clifton Collins Jr.), a small town butcher looking to prove his worth to his father back home. As Bozz keeps causing trouble for the platoon and coming up with schemes to get more trainees out of the war, he becomes a target for his commanding officers, and even some of the other trainees. Chief among the frustrated is Private Wilson (Shea Whigham), a psychotic soldier whose hate for Bozz continues to grow until the films finale, when the whole platoon is shipped to Tigerland.

The cast is made up of mostly then-unknown young actors. The fact that they aren’t easily recognizable faces makes them all the more believable in their respective parts. The entire cast is great, with the standout performance given by Colin Farrell. Farrell was an unknown back in 2000 when this film was released and has since become a huge star. Here, Farrell excels as Bozz, a natural born leader who refuses to be shoe horned into that role in the Army.  As much as he puts forth a rebellious attitude to the others, we sense that he is just as scared as the rest of them; mainly of dying in a war he doesn’t believe in.

We're too sexy for our shirts. So sexy, it huuuurts.

Joel Schumacher is known for his flashier big budget movies but, here he chose to shoot Tigerland with 16mm hand held cameras and the results are amazing. The grainy look delivered by the hand-helds add a documentary feel to the whole picture, as does the use of natural lighting.  I think if the film was shot any other way it wouldn’t be as effective at putting us right there in the mix with these characters. While Tigerland isn’t a ground-breaking film, it is a different take on the familiar war movie theme, by having the story take place during the training and not the actual war. This movie was only released in five theaters in the U.S. for three months, where it grossed only $140,000, which was a shame as it really deserved a much wider audience.  If you missed it, Tigerland is one of the best war movies released this decade and well worth a look. With a litany of strong scenes that feature great acting by all involved, it is an excellent movie that is worth seeing.

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