A Bright Shining Lie

Starring:Bill Paxton, Amy Madigan, Vivian Wu, Donal Logue, Eric Bogosian, Kurtwood Smith, Robert John Burke, James Rebhorn, Ed Lauter, Harve Presnell, Pichariva Narakbunchai, Les J.N. Mau, Van Cao, Kay Tong Lim, Jim Pearson, Chang Ching Peng Chaplin, Richard Libertini, Vu Dinh Nguyen, Wannipa 'Aoi' Navapan, John Patrick Markovitch
Director: Terry George
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Product Type: DVD

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Based on Neil Sheehan's controversial book about the making of the Vietnam war, this HBO production is told from the perspective of Lt. Colonel John Paul Vann (Bill Paxton), one of the original military advisers sent in 1962 to prop up the fledgling South Vietnamese army against the Viet Cong. Battle-ready and enthusiastic upon his arrival, Vann quickly learns that political and social pressures are causing the South Vietnamese to doctor evidence of their victories and local military brass to take undeserved credit for overhyped battles. As the propaganda draws America ever deeper into a war most people clearly don't understand, Vann takes issue with the corruption and finds his career in tatters--only the beginning of a long journey that piles tragedies upon ironies. Written and directed by Terry George (Some Mother's Son), A Bright Shining Lie has a somewhat rushed and brittle quality to it, made all the more dry by passages from Sheehan's book read, documentary-style, by Donal Logue. But George also makes a case for Vann's more blatant personal contradictions--such as the casualness of his womanizing when he so clearly loves his wife (Amy Madigan)--that only grow as years pass and political myths supporting the war fold over onto themselves. (Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg, more or less played in this film by Eric Bogosian, has taken issue with this depiction of Vann's character.) Sustaining the whole project is Paxton's focused, thoughtful performance, and an enduring public hunger to know just what it was that happened in Vietnam. On both counts, the film is well worth seeing. The DVD includes cast bios, English and Spanish audio tracks, and English, Spanish, and French subtitles. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

John Paul Vann Understood the Big Picture.......2006-12-24

I am probably interpreting A Bright Shining Lie in a manner not intended by the film makers. One senses that they thought John Paul Van was a well meaning but delusional individual. Our involvement in Vietnam was supposedly wrong and caused more grief than good. Nothing could be further from the truth. This war hero clearly saw the corruption within the Vietnamese government and military. He also realized our top officials were often incompetent. Nonetheless, General Van rightfully despised Communist aggression. Demanding perfection, is more often than not, the enemy of the good. These totalitarian monsters had to be stopped. Would the war have turned out differently had he lived a few more years? Sadly, we will never know. Bill Paxton is superb as our highly flawed but steadfast warrior. The immature journalist is admirably played by Donal Logue. This particular character will likely turn your stomach every time he is in a scene. The Communists were victorious because of our "antiwar" media. May God forgive them---because I won't. A Bright Shining Light is not quite a five star production, but it's worthy of four and a half stars. Make sure you see it.

David Thomson
Flares into Darkness

A Bright Shining Lie.......2006-03-10

This was a wonderful movie that told all about Vietnam and the horrors of war. Recommend for PG13

Sorry to say - boring, with 2-dimensional acting.......2005-11-28

I agree with the negative comments - I eventually stopped watching it - unconvincing acting - (and a small point that I found irritating - in TV movies about war, some of them have a "too-clean look" that make a film seem unrealistic. There is no dirt anywhere, as far as I could see - everybody looks too clean, the settings look too clean, and not realistic. The acting level was what finally turned me off. Glad it was on TV.

Decent little known Nam movie..........2005-05-19

I read all the reviews that were submitted...interesting. Valid points include that this film attempts to follow the tumultous life of a man of uncomprimising nature as well as an uncanny military genius w/ mixed success. Less credible are the Vann's "grandson" comments on his distain for interracial sexual relations(?), and "there's not enough action". Many Vietnam movies tend to focus on the extremes of human emotion and visceral narration (i.e grunts, fighter jocks, spec. ops. etc). If you are seeking the emotional impact and bullet time of Platoon or Apocalypse Now you won't find it here.

This movie focuses on the broader issues of the conflict, South Vietnamese corruption, U.S military leaders' ineptitude in combating guerilla warfare, and the evolution of the press affecting American sentiment toward to the long course of war. Corrupt South Vietnamese cadre, themselves products of colonialism, whose elitism pushed to average Vietnamese into the waiting arms of the communists. Also the single-mindness of the US military is clearly evident, even when their continual losses revealed their flawed strategy. General Westmoreland is portrayed as a over-conficent and narrow-minded man unaccepting of his subordinates advice. If this seems inaccurate, just watch his opinated comments in the Hearts and Minds documentary. Its seems poor Vann is the only man w/ the right ideas in a world full of officers still fighting WWII. His career is shattered because he wouldn't back down in a military system where you don't challenge your commanders. In the end, Vann finally gets his props and realizes his potential, but it was too late...American public had enough of Vietnam.

I wouldn't review this movie on its accuracy on the book or the man, this is told as a story of a man who personified the conflicted nature of the American side of the conflict. In the beginning Vann wants to fight the war w/ a conscience but as it gets uglier you see his character begin to solidify into a consumate fighter only wanting to win at any cost. His inability to compromise and adapt to a world changing much faster than him eventually consumes him.

Overall, the film breaks new ground into Nam movies by showing an abbreviated evolution of the conflict, the workings of the US brass, and the nasty underlying issues that made that conflict so controversial w/out beating you over the head. I wouldn't compare it to other blockbuster movies on Vietnam...if only this movie was given their huge budget and screen time.

Eye-opener.......2005-04-07

I first watched this movie five years ago on HBO, and to be honest, this film inspired me to read the book, though it would take me four long years to find it.

ABSL focuses on the life of one of the most signficant, yet unrecognized in the mainstream, figures of the Vietnam War: Lt. Col. John Paul Vann, USA.

Just like the novel, the movie starts off at the funeral, then proceeds to Vann's arrival in Vietnam in March 1962. He begins to devote time advising his Vietnamese counterpart, Col. Nguyen Van Cao, played by Singaporean actor Lim Kay Tong. Vann feels something is not right when the South Vietnamese fake the VC body counts and deduce that they have no stomach for fighting the Communists-they only want to protect the Diem regime. The Battle of Ap Bac would later make the Americans and South Vietnamese begin paying for such errors in blood, as it's aftermath jacks up the war to a new level...

The film mostly focuses on the action in Vietnam. Bill Paxton portrayed the role of Vann quite well, as a father, husband, and officer. He was able to add color to his role as his Vann character gets screwed over by the military leadership over the conduct of the war, and his troubles at home. His sexual hijinks with Lee the schoolteacher and Annie the naive schoolgirl are also in the movie.

If General Westmoreland was really that arrogant in Vietnam, Kurtwood Smith did a fine job playing him.

Lim Kay Tong's Singaporean accent is evident in his role as Colonel Cao, unless the Vietnamese really speak that way.

It's obvious that there were errors in the movie that I would later discover in the novel-names changed and all of that. Vann was not there when the first Buddhist monk committed suicide by fire, for example.

The film also has original video footage of the war spliced into it, particularly those taken during the Tet Offensive-even including the famous footage of a VC spy shot point-blank by a Southern police colonel.

I never gave the Vietnam War a real in-depth look, until I watched this movie. Good thing I read the book it was based on-it filled a lot of gaps the movie obviously had.

We Were Soldiers (wide screen) / A Bright Shining Lie [2 DVD]

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We Were Soldiers (wide screen) / A Bright Shining Lie [2 DVD]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

HBO Originals - Gia, The Rat Pack, Gotti, A Bright Shining Lie, Truman, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and RKO 281

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HBO Originals - Gia, The Rat Pack, Gotti, A Bright Shining Lie, Truman, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and RKO 281
Starring: Gary Sinise , Diana Scarwid , Richard A. Dysart , Colm Feore , and James Gammon
Director: Frank Pierson , Martha Coolidge , and Benjamin Ross
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00005221R
Release Date: 2005-01-25

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There's a reason why Cindy Crawford was dubbed "Baby Gia" when she first hit the modeling scene. Indeed, Crawford, now the world's best-known supermodel, greatly resembled model Gia Carangi, who went from high school to the cover of British Vogue in less than two years. Carangi appeared on many more covers of Vogue (French, British, Italian, and American) and Cosmopolitan before dying of complications from AIDS (she was an IV heroin user) in 1986. Now most people recognize Carangi's name from this powerful HBO film that stars Golden Globe-winner Angelina Jolie, who comes by her talent honestly. Jolie is the daughter of veteran actor Jon Voight, and her own training as a model serves her well--she has the moves. Throughout, she's heartbreaking--as no doubt the real Carangi was--effective, and stunning.

With good source material (Stephen Fried's A Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia), Jolie's stunning performance, and strong directing by Michael Cristofer, the movie goes beyond the merely sensational. The script was cowritten by Cristofer and novelist Jay McInerney, whose Bright Lights, Big City covers similar territory. As a cautionary tale, Gia works. But to watch Jolie in her character's tragic self-destruction is utterly compelling. --N.F. Mendoza

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