Demi Moore was back again at Hollywood Pictures with another epic tale, G.I. Jane.
The Plot
Senator Lillian DeHaven has a feud with the soon to be Secretary of the Navy. In a bid to push for gender parity, DeHaven has got the Navy to open Seal training for women, and her choice for the first candidate is Lt. Jordan O’Neill.
O’Neill reports for training and will be the first of many women to venture into combat. To survive training would be a miracle because the rigor of Seal training is nothing compared to the resentment of some of her male compatriots.
Their training supervisor is Master Chief John James Urgayle, who has no desire to see women in combat. Urgayle is a legend, having won the Navy Cross for heroism, and he sees O’Neill as a threat to the safety and normalcy of the men heading into combat.
As O’Neill continues to defy the odds, Senator DeHaven is willing to trade O’Neill’s success to ensure her own reelection. O’Neill is not giving up, through grit and anger, she gets through to the final part of training which puts her into combat.
On the battlefield she must once again prove her worth because this time it’s for real and her abilities will decide her life and her fellow soldiers.
The Good
Demi Moore is great in this film. She has a presence and commitment to the role that goes far beyond shaving her head. Shaving her head has a practical purpose for ease and comfort during training. But Moore shows unwavering focus to making Jordan O’Neill a real protagonist that the audience can root for. While the training is intense, it’s not superhero ridiculous, and shows how success in training is based on strength, commitment, and grit. These are the attributes that O’Neill has.
Viggo Mortensen is brilliant as Urgayle. He’s hostile and antagonistic, but Urgayle is likeable for his cruelty and actions. It’s weird to praise a character like Urgayle, but Mortensen makes us see a true human with flaws and attributes that we can identify with. We aren’t supposed to like Master Chief Urgayle, but we don’t hate him either. Only Viggo Mortensen could thread such a fine and thin needle.
The Bad and the Ugly
The movie is predictable.
I understand the choice of the title, but it should have been changed. Rather than reshooting an ending, a better title could have been used.
Anne Bancroft is a legend. Her talent is unmatched. I do not like her Senator DeHaven character.
Beyond the Film Facts
- The film was nominated for Golden Reel Award with the Motion Picture Sound Editors.
- The Razzie Awards gave Moore a nomination as well. Personally, I find this ‘awards’ ceremony unnecessarily cruel and pointless.
- Moore is very proud of the film. In her autobiography Inside Out, she refers to her time on the film as her proudest professional achievement.
- While the main cast went through boot camp, Viggo Mortensen trained on his own by observing Navy Seal training and talking with former seals. This created resentment from the cast because he didn’t endure the hardship they did which is precisely what Mortensen wanted to happen.
- The Navy Seals opened their training to women in 2016.
- Some of the submarine footage was supplied by director Ridley Scott’s brother Tony from extra footage that he shot on another Hollywood Pictures film, Crimson Tide.
- The list of bases on the planned closing list during the film includes Coronado, which is the real-life location for Seal training.
- Sam Rockwell was originally cast in the film and shot some footage before he was replaced.
- O’Neill does not actually sign up for Navy Seal training. In the film she is attending Seal/Combined Reconnaissance Team training which brings together members from different groups of the armed forces.
- The original ending for the film had O’Neill dying while saving the Master Chief. Her funeral was televised and inspired three other women to show up for training at the end of the film. This ending reportedly tested well with audiences, but Disney opted to reshoot for a happier ending.
- The film may have been a box office disappointment in North America it did make a small profit when worldwide gross and DVD sales are included.
- The controversy of the film, and the negative press had a great impact on Moore as well as screenwriter Danielle Alexandra, who never wrote another screenplay again.
- The film opened at number 1 with over $11 million in total for the weekend.
- Screenwriter David Twohy blames the negative reception of Striptease for the failure of G.I. Jane.
The Streamy Award
{The following four categories are based on a Film Reel scale.
1 Reel-Bored and Killing Time, 2 Reels-When You Have Some Time, 3 Reels-Make Some Time, 4 Reels-Big Screen Event}
G.I. Jane is a great film. I whole heartedly agree with David Twohy that Striptease ruined this movie. The cloud of stink that emanated from that film saturated the market and made G.I. Jane fail before it was done filming. The media at the time had it out for Demi Moore. It wouldn’t matter what she did, or how hard she worked, everyone was looking for a way to take her star power down.
Looking back on the film and watching it for the first time in many years, G.I. Jane gets a 3 Reels rating. Make some time and watch the film for yourself. The performances and direction are worth it.
Cast and Crew
- Demi Moore as Lt. Jordan O’Neill
- Viggo Mortensen as Master Chief John James Urgayle
- Anne Bancroft as Senator Lillian DeHaven
- Morris Chestnut as McCool
- Jim Caviezel as Slovnik
Directed by Ridley Scott
Produced by Hollywood Pictures / Caravan Pictures / First Independent Films
Release Date: August 22, 1997
Budget: $50 million
Box Office Gross
Domestic: $48,169,156
Coming Soon
Next week a look at the action-comedy Shanghai Knights.