A Soldier's Sweetheart

1998 film
  • Kiefer Sutherland
  • Skeet Ulrich
  • Georgina Cates
CinematographyJacek LaskusEdited byAnthony SherinMusic byGary Chang
Production
companies
Showtime Networks
Moloney/Donnelly Productions
Distributed byShowtime Networks
Release date
  • June 9, 1998 (1998-06-09) (Seattle International Film Festival)
Running time
112 minutesLanguageEnglish

A Soldier's Sweetheart is a 1998 television film directed by Thomas Michael Donnelly and starring Kiefer Sutherland,[1] Skeet Ulrich, and Georgina Cates. It is based on a short story by Tim O'Brien, "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong."[2] The story was part of his book, The Things They Carried (1990).

Cast

  • Kiefer Sutherland as Rat Kiley
  • Skeet Ulrich as Mark Fossie
  • Georgina Cates as Marianne Bell
  • Daniel London as Eddie Diamond
  • Louis Vanaria as Bobbie D
  • Lawrence Gilliard, Jr. as Shoeshine
  • Christopher Birt as Lt. Mitchell Sanders
  • Tony Billy as Soldier #2

Production

The film was shot in New Zealand, at Studio West in West Auckland.[3]

Release

The film is only available on VHS, and a petition has been set up at IMDb urging the companies that own the rights to the film to consider reissuing it in DVD format.[4] It was also premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival in 1998. The film received a theatrical release in Belgium in 2010.

Reception

Bob Batz from Dayton Daily News gave A Soldier's Sweetheart a very positive review, stating: "The film, based on Tim O'Brien's award-winning short story Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong, is a brutal, often bloody story of the Vietnam War and how it changed many of the men - and women - who were part of it. It is filled with excellent dialogue and has enough plot twists to keep viewers riveted to their easy chairs for the entire two hours."[5]

Ken Eisner from Variety magazine also gave the film a good review, concluding: "Just when you think all the basic Vietnam stories have been told, helmer Thomas Michael Donnelly puts a new spin on America's lost cause by viewing it from a female angle. Striving for mythic levels — although there's plenty of scary grit to it — "A Soldier's Sweetheart" taps into an aspect of warfare that transcends gender. Subject, then, is a difficult one, but extremely well-mounted pic could resonate with women if Paramount can find a way to package it for theatrical release".[6]

A Soldier's Sweetheart was nominated for two awards. One Primetime Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special"[7] and one Golden Reel Awards for "Best Sound Editing - Television Movies of the Week - Dialogue & ADR".[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ "A second Sutherland goes to war" - Toronto Star
  2. ^ "A `SOLDIER'S'STORY MAKES FOR A GREAT CABLE MOVIE" - Dayton Daily News
  3. ^ "Our Story". Studio West. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  4. ^ "A Soldier's Sweetheart (1998) for DVD Release" - Petition Online Archived July 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Batz, Bob. "A 'SOLDIER'S' STORY MAKES FOR A GREAT CABLE MOVIE". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  6. ^ Eisner, Ken (22 June 1998). "Review: 'A Soldier's Sweetheart'". Variety. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  7. ^ "51st Emmy Awards Nominees and Winners". Emmys.com. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  8. ^ "Awards". IMDB. Retrieved 17 May 2017.

External links

  • A Soldier's Sweetheart at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  • "The things they carried: a work of fiction, Volume 1998, Part 2" - Google Books
  • "This 'Soldier's in a New Viet Quagmire" - Multichannel News