Men With Guns

If the term "independent film" means anything in an era when Disney owns Miramax, it means the work of John Sayles. Men With Guns is classic Sayles, meaning that it works best for viewers willing to think about it for a while afterwards. The story follows an elderly, upper class doctor (Federico Jose Luppi) through the civil war-torn frontiers of his unnamed Latin American country as he searches for former students assisting in Native Indian towns; his journey, eventually, becoming a road to realizing all of the suffering he had never noticed. Sayles develops this theme of accepting responsibility for one's actions or inactions through passengers the doctor picks up along the way, including a former soldier haunted by his life of violence and a former priest who loses his faith after an act of selfishness. With his typical novelistic style, Sayles develops his characters into souls seeking redemption, trying to be part of the solution where they had once been part of the problem. Unfortunately, the side plots don't bear the same fruit as the intertwined stories in Sayles' masterpiece Lone Star; often, they simply feel like padding in a singularly sedate war story. Still, less-than-perfect Sayles is eminently watchable. He is willing to talk to you rather than shout, to allow his films to sneak up on you with their thoughtful confidence. In 1998, that above all else makes John Sayles a truly independent film-maker. Recommended. (S. Renshaw)[DVD Review--Oct. 21, 2003--Columbia TriStar, 128 min., in Spanish w/English subtitles, R, $24.95--Boasting a sharp and clean digital transfer and a solid Dolby Digital surround track, Men With Guns debuts on DVD with only one real extra, but it's one that will appeal to serious cineastes: a characteristically intelligent and insightful commentary by director John Sayles. Bottom line: a solid film from one of America's premier indie filmmakers.]