Heartbreak Ridge

Directed by Clint Eastwood, Heartbreak Ridge follows a hardened sergeant (Eastwood’s Tom Highway) as he attempts to whip a ragtag group of soldiers into fighting shape. It’s familiar subject matter that is, at the outset, employed to perpetually watchable effect by Eastwood, as the filmmaker, armed with James Carabatsos’ screenplay, does a solid job of initially establishing his tough-as-nails character and the dynamic that forms between Highway and his less-than-disciplined recruits – with the entertaining vibe undoubtedly heightened by Eastwood’s predictably commanding (and often very funny) turn. There’s little doubt, then, that Heartbreak Ridge‘s turn towards the tedious is triggered by a repetitive, padded-out midsection increasingly devoid of compelling sequences and set-pieces, and it’s clear, too, that the far-from-enthralling feel is compounded by an almost total lack of interesting, three-dimensional periphery figures – which, when coupled with an action-heavy yet entirely anticlimactic third act, ultimately confirms the picture’s place as a disappointing misfire that squanders the potential afforded by its relatively promising opening stretch.

** out of ****