Drama. 2 hours, 8 minutes. At the Denver FilmCenter/Colfax
“Amigo” might be the talkiest war movie ever made. Although set at the turn of the 20th century during the Philippine-American War, writer-director John Sayles’ latest film tries way too hard to make a point about more recent wars.
Early on, an American Army officer played by Chris Cooper turns to one of his subordinates and says, “We’re supposed to be winning their hearts and minds.”
That anachronistic Vietnam-era reference is the first sign Sayles doesn’t care all that much about the Philippines, or about the Filipinos at the center of his story — two brothers, Rafael (Joel Torre), the village leader who grudgingly accommodates the American soldiers, and Simon (Ronnie Lazaro), the anti-American commander of a nearby insurrectionist cell.
There’s nothing wrong with a story that has a powerful moral. That’s why we tell stories. But the argument in “Amigo” is so heavy-handed that by the time the movie winds its way to a predictable but uninvolving conclusion, nobody will be listening anymore.
