Review – A Bright, Shining Lie

Once again Hollywood gives us the Vietnam War as a backdrop for one American man’s personal struggle to make sense of life. If anything this one’s actually worse, because it has the nerve to masquerade as an honest portrait of US involvement in Southeast Asia. Oh, if only we’d been nicer about winning hearts and minds we wouldn’t have needed to burn so many damn huts down. And if only protagonist John Vann's mother hadn’t been a prostitute he could have gone to West Point instead of becoming a washout and a pervert. Whatever. See if desperate