Generational conflict, Vietnam protest, and cultural upheaval become Hollywood-style banalities in this earnest but thoroughly predictable melodrama set during a pivotal year in recent American history. At its best, 1969 plausibly represents bourgeois angst in an era of moral crisis, but
renders little of the politics, passion, and hope that set off a social revolution. College sophomores Ralph (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Scott (Kiefer Sutherland) hitchhike home in time to see Scott's Marine brother shipped off to Vietnam. After witnessing a bloody confrontation between students and
police, Ralph's sister Beth (Winona Ryder) protests the war in the valedictory speech ...
Released:
1988
Rated:
R
Length:
90 mins