Act I: As the country crooner sings "Goodbye, sweetheart, hello, Viet Nam," 17 Marine recruits get their heads shaved. The long, defiant hair of the late 1960s falls to the floor; the young men look sullen or stern. Do they know that this is a pre-op for a lobotomy? Double time, in their eight weeks at Parris Island, S.C., they will be stripped of their freedom, their pride, their names. The recruit who dares to hang some John Wayne sarcasm on the drill instructor will be called Joker (Matthew Modine). The guy from Texas will be dubbed Cowboy (Arliss Howard). Gomer...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
