Overall Rating Awesome: 21.05% Worth A Look: 42.11% Average: 31.58% Pretty Bad: 5.26% Total Crap: 0% 1 review, 13 user ratings

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Odd Angry Shot, The

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by Stephen Groenewegen

"Living room war"

The Odd Angry Shot is a modest film, not large enough to match its ambition. Australia’s first film set during the Vietnam War (made in 1979), it tries to be a traditional war genre movie - with jungle sorties, rec. leave in Saigon, choppers and tragic deaths. But at its best, it’s a character study - a portrait of Australian masculinity under pressure.

It traces a yearlong tour of duty of a SAS patrol in 1969. Although based on William Nagle’s award-winning autobiographical novel, it widens the perspective from author surrogate Bill (John Jarratt) to that of the whole ensemble, played with believable camaraderie by Graham Kennedy, John Hargreaves, Graeme Blundell, Bryan Brown and Richard Moir.

A key theme is that the men’s presence in Vietnam was futile. All they see is “the odd angry shot”, though often with devastating consequences. The final scene is set in Sydney. Kennedy and Jarratt meet for a drink but, after denying to the bartender they were in the war and commenting how Sydney looks the same, have nothing to say to each other. It’s an ending for a smaller film and it introduces the wider political context of public attitude to the war too late.

Unfortunately, the film is also episodic and suffers a fatal lack of focus and narrative drive. Perhaps director-adaptor Tom Jeffrey should have stuck with Bill’s perspective - the smaller scale of the film is more acceptable as one man’s view of the war and would have seemed less of an attempt at a representative view of Australian involvement.

link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=8050&reviewer=104
originally posted: 07/25/03 16:36:05

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User Comments

10/28/05 samantha all right for an aussie film! 4 stars

5/25/05 Johnno I loved it being ex Army myself it shows how useless war actually is. 5 stars

10/28/04 Chris realistic enough 4 stars

8/21/04 Scott Carpenter This film is a good antidote to the Hollywood war films we see so often now. 5 stars

6/13/04 Terence Taylor Good film, a few slow moments and hard to find for sale. 4 stars

5/09/04 S.Eldridge it was alright, a bit slow 2 stars

12/28/03 Les Thompson This film is more about mates than it is about war 4 stars

12/13/03 Tony A classic story that captures the relationship that still exists with Australian soldiers. 4 stars

11/09/03 KRISTY It is a great movie ani want to download it but cant find it 5 stars

11/07/03 Grant It was light hearted and at times comical, it balanced the serious side of the war nicely. 4 stars

9/17/03 Dana If you experianced Vietnam you can enjoy this movie very much, especially the ending scene 5 stars

9/06/03 Mark I love for its characterisation of the SAS patrol as social group 4 stars

8/18/03 Daniel Tawse I love this film 4 stars

IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS FILM, RATE IT!
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USA 01-Mar-1979 UK N/A Australia 01-Mar-1979

Directed by Tom Jeffrey Written by Tom Jeffrey Cast Graham Kennedy John Hargreaves John Jarratt Bryan Brown Graeme Blundell Richard Moir

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