G.I. Jane

REVIEW
The initial reaction to a film starring Moore as the first female SEAL candidate was an expectant rush of cynical loathing. Instead, immersed in the pyrotechnics of director Scott's signature hyperactive style, substantive questions are raised in this extravagant Hollywood product. Moore's Intelligence officer is too good to be true -- a logistical genius with an unerring ability to communicate with total integrity and without compromise. The men around her are kinda too good to be true, too. Moore is chosen with the influence of a U.S. Senator from Texas (portrayed with icy flint by Bancroft) with her own agenda. Moore's take on the archetypal Ripley heroine is conducted with punctuated sensory assaults by Scott, whose simulations of combat are as much a commentary on movie making as on the carnage of war and training for war. Moore is reminded that Israelis stopped using women in combat because male soldiers tarried when women were injured. Let's face it: The real male nightmare regarding women in the military is not women who get killed but women who can kill. G.I. Jane is a slickly made exploration of some button-pushing issues, presented with a budget rivaling some of your smaller wars.