Heroes from Another Country (1998)

            “Heroes de Otra Patria” is Puerto Rican movie written and directed by Ivan Daniel Ortiz. It was Puerto Rico’s submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar at the Academy Awards, but did not make the cut.  The movie follows Carlos (Jorge Castillo) and Raul (Jimmy Navarro) on a mission in Vietnam. Meanwhile, the film cuts back to families in Puerto Rico.  Carlos’ mother and sister face eviction. This is meant to be comparable to the buddies being lost in the jungle after their squad runs into an ambush. There’s a lot of walking and talking in this movie. I counted 13 dialogue scenes.

            The film is very low budget and it shows. Sincerity can not make up for that handicap. Ortiz wanted the movie to be a tribute to Puerto Rican soldiers in Vietnam. They certainly deserve the recognition. Oddly, that tribute is out of sorts with the overall tone of the film that sends the message that Puerto Rico’s involvement in the war was a  mistake. It does seem a little weird that he chose to describe Puerto Rico as another country. Besides the low budget, the movie gives the impression that the actors did not rehearse and every scene was one take. The two leads are fairly decent actors, but the rest of the cast is amateurish. They look like actors playing soldier. The movie does not have an authentic feel to it.

            The movie is too talkie. It has a very high percentage of dialogue and very little combat. That might be a good idea because the action is laughable. The men have no noise discipline. They are just stumbling in the jungle and the mission is unclear. The hand-held gets too close to the men. It is clear that they are not in a jungle environment.

            I could be snarky and say that “Heroes of Another Land” is the best Puerto Rican movie about the Vietnam War, but I won’t because the film was made for a good reason. The attempt to mesh the home front problems with those of the men was well-intentioned. It just doesn’t make for compelling cinema.

GRADE  =  D-