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Review by Susan Granger
3½ stars out of 4
Back in 1942, during W.W.II, 400 patriotic young Americans from the
Navajo nation were recruited and trained by the Marines to use their native
language to transmit secret military information. They were dubbed
'windtalkers,' a name that evokes their spirituality and culture. Their
mission's success was vital to our victory in the Pacific and theirs was the
only code never broken by the Japanese. Since it was imperative "to protect the
code at all costs," the Marines assigned to watch over the Navajos in combat
faced a provocative moral dilemma: if a Navajo was captured, his Marine escort
would have to kill him rather than have him taken prisoner.
Dour Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage) is war-weary, suffering serious eardrum
damage and post-traumatic stress. Yet his devotion to duty propels him back into
battling the Japanese in the Saipan invasion, where he's partnered with friendly
yet fearful Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach), who transmits radio bulletins from the
front-lines to his pal Charlie Whitehorse (Roger Willie), who's guarded by
genial Ox Anderson (Christian Slater) - and this latter duo's wood
flute-harmonica duets are poignant. Mark Ruffalo, Noah Emmerich, Brian Van Holt,
Martin Henderson and Peter Stormare complete the stereotypical platoon. The
hypothetical premise is challenging but writers John Rice & Joe Batteer lift
liberally from Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line," plus other war movies, and
their weak, simplistic dialogue is drenched with clichés. Director John Woo
stages some harrowing, graphic combat sequences and scores with several solid,
suspenseful moments that determine who will survive. On the Granger Movie Gauge
of 1 to 10, "Windtalkers" is a compelling 8, revealing and reveling in the
ingenuity and bravery of these unsung Navajo heroes.
Copyright © 2002 Susan Granger
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out of 4
