Southern Comfort

Arguably writer-director Walter Hill's best film to date, SOUTHERN COMFORT works both as a pure action film and as an extremely effective allegory of America's involvement in Vietnam. Vaguely reminiscent of John Boorman's DELIVERANCE, the film follows a group of National Guardsmen on maneuvers in the swamps of Louisiana. These weekend warriors, ill-equipped for their task, are given to horseplay and bickering. While out in the country, they "borrow" some canoes from local Cajuns, and soon find themselves pursued by the angry backwoodsmen. When one Guardsman (Lewis Smith) makes the mistake of shooting at the Cajuns, albeit with blanks, the enraged locals return the ...