This film is basically Treasure of the Sierra Madre set in Vietnam.
Four Vietnam vets gather to go back to collect the body of their fallen soldier, Norman (the late, great Chadwick Boseman) and to unbury some gold, so they will be rich. Naturally, nothing goes to plan. First, Paul's (Delroy Lindo's) son, David (Jonathan Masters) somehow manages to join them and then Eddie (Norm Lewis) turns out to be broke and dies after stepping on a landmine. And just when you think things might finally work out, think again, rebel soldiers refuse to let them keep their gold so they have endure yet another battle in Vietnam, leaving only a wounded Otis (Clarke Peters) alive out of the original 5, which is good thing as he just discovered that he knocked up his Vietnamese mistress so he has another adult daughter.
The film is superbly acted though it is an extremely bloody film, realistically so. I wasn't thrilled with the plot, though it wasn't super predictable (I did predict that the woman was Otis's daughter and though Paul was adamant that nothing was going to kill him, I figured that he would die), I still didn't like the whole kidnapping the bomb disfuser people which involved one of the most bizarre love stories I've seen in some time. Fortunately, the film has somewhat of a happy ending, with plenty of the money going to charities, worthy charities, though the one is fictitious, created solely for the film though it should be real. Grade: B+
Side Notes:
-In another choice, during the flashback scenes, the same actors are used to portray their younger selves, without any attempt to make them look younger, which is bizarre.
-I don't understand why Norman was rescued but not Eddie.
-Money really is the root of all evil.
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