maxlondon1
An excellent film. Reuben(DW) returns from serving two tours abroad fighting and risking his life for his country UK. He is originally from St Louisha, not sure if I have spelt that right. He can't get a job; is consistently, racially harassed by the police and goes back to an area which he tried to escape from by joining the army in the first place, hoping that on his return there would be some improvements. Alas there are none. The action starts when he decides to go on holiday with his new found girlfriend and when he trys to obtain a passport HE IS REFUSED! on the basis that since he had been away at war, his country of origin had gained independence and therefore he was not entitled to a British passport. The film is not slow moving but definitely very provocative and there are some commanding performances from all, including DW, (with the exception of his accent!) Things for people that have served in the British army have changed since and I am sure that this film played a part albeit minor.
Boxingmad
This film is a harsh reality of life after the army. The British Paras are an elite fighting force, but they are there to kill the enemy. You don't really have a trade when you leave, except how to jump out of planes & kill. However, the British Army today has an excellent support sytem, unlike the mid 1980s when this film was set. This is highlighted in the movie as we see Reuben returning after leaving the Paras, during which he did a tour in Northern Ireland and fought in the 1982 Falklands war. We see him struggling to get any meaningful employment until he links up with a criminal friend. His mate Fish, who was wounded in the Falklands, is living on disability allowance, and is suffering too, being in a wheelchair. It is a sad, gritty look at life at the lower end of the scale in a run-down urban council estate in London. Having served his country with pride as a British paratrooper, he is left with nothing except the prospect of drifting into crime.
imdbmykl
I really didn't know what to expect when some friends and I hired this DVD. Denzel Washington plays Rueben James, a retired English Paratrooper, returning home to the housing estate he grew up in as a child. Here he finds that not much has changed since he left about 10 years beforehand. Many of Rueben's friends are still involved in 'less than legal' occupations, and the poverty and wretchedness of the estate seems even worse than when he lived there before. He needs to decide just where he fits in back home, and what direction his life will take. Despite trying to make a new life for himself, obstacles from past and present seem to always get in the way. While I did find this movie slow paced, it captured the dismal feel of this community excellently. It also avoided using simplistic general stereotypes (for example, police are portrayed both in a very positive and very negative light). I would recommend this movie if you're in the mood for a bit of gritty realism, but don't expect to feel particularly upbeat afterward!
Theo Robertson
A hero returning from war and finding that he`s no longer wanted isn`t one of the most original ideas for a screenplay but it is one of the best . Unfortunately FOR QUEEN AND COUNTRY is one of the weaker of these types of films . The budget doesn`t help because the scenario of the Falklands War is relegated to a brief scene to a bunch of soldiers looking out of a ship doorway seeing flashes of gunfire away in the distance , and that`s the extent the film paints of the Falklands War . It`s not only this scene that irritates , I couldn`t help noticing that many of the interiors look like they were filmed in a film studio . But perhaps the most unconvincing thing about the film is Denzil Washington`s London accent , I can`t believe some people think its any good because I find it as irritating as Dick Van Dyke`s in MARY POPPINS . And let`s not forget that when this film was made Washington wasn`t the double Oscar winning mega star he is today but was best known as a TV star due to ST ELSEWHERE . Indeed FOR QUEEN AND COUNTRY feels like an overproduced TV play similar to the excellent PLAY FOR TODAY that the BBC produced in the 1970s but not as well written . The ending is just too coincidental . I know it`s trying to be bitter and ironic but is completely contrived ." Soldiers don`t fight and die for Queen and country. They fight and die for one another" Major Chris Kebble . 2 Para
AD
