Buffalo Soldiers (2001)

Director: Gregor Jordan

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix as Ray Elwood, Ed Harris as Colonel Berman, Scott Glenn as Sergeant Lee, Anna Paquin as Robyn Lee, Elizabeth McGovern as Mrs. Berman, Michael Peña as Garcia, Leon as Stoney (as Leon Robinson), Gabriel Mann as Knoll, Dean Stockwell as General Lancaster, Brian Delate as Colonel Marshall, Shiek Mahmud-Bey as Sergeant Saad (as Sheik Mahmud-Bey), Amani Gethers as Kirschfield, Noah Lee Margetts as Rothfuss (as Noah), Tom Ellis as Squash, Kick Gurry as Video

Without an enemy to fight, an army will fight itself or find its own
enemies. In the tradition of "Sergeant Bilko" (the Phil Silvers TV
show, not Steve Martin's ghastly remake) "Buffalo Soldiers" shows what
happens when soldiers with nothing to do but wait for war begin to
think for themselves and exploit the system.

In place of Bilko's poker games and lottery scams, Ray Elwood opts for
black marketeering, drug dealing and gun running. However, the
characters portrayed by Phil Silvers and Joaquin Phoenix respectively
do have a lot in common.

The tone of "Buffalo Soldiers" is much darker than that of "Sergeant
Bilko", but the film and TV series share the same absurd yet plausible
vision. There are no chimpanzee conscripts like Private Harry Speakup
in this movie, but there ARE characters who have clearly risen well
above the level of their own incompetence. Ed Harris' Colonel Berman is
a pathetic example of the uniformed, time-served bureaucrat, someone
you could almost feel sorry for until you realise that one day he may
have to lead men into combat.

Counterbalancing the Bilko-esquire vibe created by Elwood's
wheeler-dealing is his nemesis, Scott Glenn's steely Sergeant Lee.
Glenn clearly relishes his role in this movie and is very convincing as
the model soldier with a true heart of darkness.

Joaquin Phoenix gives Elwood an understated charisma as he leads his
troops from behind, rarely lifting the lid on the fear and frustration
that simmers within him as the events he sets in motion go out of
control.

To say that this film is anti-military is unfair as it contains
portrayals of decent, honest and professional soldiers as well as the
scammers, pimps and dopeheads that the plot focuses on. It is a film
about human beings (with all their failings) in uniform, not soldiers.
"Buffalo Soldiers" is anti-complacency, anti-indoctrination and
anti-corruption, which is probably why its release was postponed after
the September 11th terrorist outrage of 2001. In the light of recent
despicable acts by a small group of US soldiers in Iraq's Abu Graib
prison, this film seems eerily prescient. Without an enemy to fight in
open combat, what happens to the aggression and contempt for that enemy
that military training fosters?

Ignore the negative comments and give this under-rated film a chance.
It was titled "Army Go Home" in Germany, where the film is set, echoing
the feelings of German citizens who lived near foreign troops sent to
defend them against Communism. The Beetle-crushing sequence (an
absurdly comic high point of the film) is based on actual incidents
involving bored, intoxicated British and American troops on manoeuvres,
armed to the teeth and waiting for a war that never came.