The Red Badge of Courage

Directed by John Huston, The Red Badge of Courage follows Civil War soldier Henry Fleming (Audie Murphy) as he struggles to find his courage in the buildup to (and aftermath of) a violent battle. Filmmaker Huston, working from his own screenplay, does an effective job of infusing The Red Badge of Courage with a gritty, down-to-earth feel that’s reflected in most of its attributes, with, especially, the picture benefiting substantially from its impressively epic atmosphere and Huston’s ongoing reliance on striking, eye-popping visuals. (The former is certainly reflected most keenly in the movie’s raft of authentic, visceral combat sequences.) It’s just as apparent, however, that the viewer is rarely, if ever, wholeheartedly drawn into the deliberately-paced proceedings, as The Red Badge of Courage is, for the most part, lacking in compelling, three-dimensional protagonists worth rooting for and sympathizing with – with this certainly true of Murphy’s competent yet less-than-dynamic turn as the conflicted central character. The movie is, as a result, effective only in bursts and generally absent of any real sense of momentum or consistency, which paves the way for a somewhat anticlimactic finale and ensures, ultimately, that The Red Badge of Courage comes off as a decent-enough endeavor that could (and should) have been so much better.

**1/2 out of ****

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