Buffalo Soldier

In Buffalo Soldiers, Joaquin Phoenix stars as Ray Elwood, an Army clerk stationed in West Germany just before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Part of a company made up almost entirely of ex-convicts and school drop-outs, Elwood takes advantage of his daft commanding officer, Col. Berman (Harris), by selling heroin and stolen Army supplies wholesale. When a member of the company dies and an autopsy reveals a remarkable amount of drugs in his bloodstream, however, far more intense scrutiny is brought down on the base in the form of Sgt. Lee (Glenn)--a tough and savvy Vietnam veteran who immediately surmises that Elwood is the brains behind the base''s black market operations. Unfortunately, Elwood happens to land upon the biggest score of his tour--two trucks full of arms and 30 kilos of heroin--just as Sgt. Lee begins to orchestrate his downfall. Based on Robert O''Connor''s novel, Buffalo Soldiers is cynical but not irreverent; it doesn''t treat its characters irresponsible and often idiotic behaviour lightly, nor does it judge them. Director Gregor Jordan has done an excellent job of adapting the tone of the original novel to the screen and, aided by excellent performances from Messrs. Phoenix and Glenn, makes Buffalo Soldiers a thoroughly enjoyable satire.