Writer/director John Sayles has some highly respected films on his resume, from “Eight Men Out” to “Matewan.” But his latest project feels more like a parody than an actual movie project.
“Amigo,” heading our way this August, tells the story of an American occupation of the Philippines circa 1900. And if you think it’s just an excuse to slam so-called American imperialism in general and the Iraq war in particular, give yourself a gold star.
But even knowing that doesn’t prepare you for the liberal cliches barnstorming across the screen. You have the cruel Americans personified here by Chris Cooper, the saintly locals, the scenes of innocents being squashed under the U.S. military’s thumb and the American who dares to connect with the enemy on a personal level.
It’s as subtle as a Bill Maher rant.
Maybe the trailer ratched up the anti-American elements because they know the hard-left crowd will be the only ones lining up for such a project. Let’s hope “Amigo” isn’t as cartoonish as its trailer portends.
What the hell kind of absurdo-bizzaro rifle is he holding on his hip in the Trailer cover-picture? It’s sure the hell not a M1898 Krag. Do they mention the whole Moro piracy and slavery bit, and selling young girls to the Saudi Princes? Or is it all Vival La Revolucion! with the Philippines standing in for Cuba? Which one is supposed to be the brave Che Guevara? Oh jeeze, they even have a “waterboarding” scene…sheesh – or any mention of the fact that Filipinos speak Tagalog, not Spanish?
I watched it and it was a good thing I wasn’t up for a Code Pink drinking game. They hit every evil American cliche you could think of. There is the “we were at war with one country so we invaded a different one.” Add the waterboarding scene and all that was missing was, “we need to destroy the village to save it.” Jeeze. I can’t wait to see how they handle Pershing’s method of dealing with terrorists. (look it up) How transparent can you get. The one positive is they clearly have very high production values, so whoever is behind this is going to lose a lot of money.
I would indeed like to see them portray Pershing’s method, it is hilarious.