Memphis Belle
1990  PG-13  DRAMA  1h 47min
CAST— Matthew Modine, Eric Stoltz, Tate Donovan, D.B. Sweeney, Billy Zane, Sean Astin, Harry Connick, Jr., Reed Edward Diamond, Courtney Gains, Neil Giuntoli, John Lithgow
MUSIC— George Fenton  DIRECTOR— Michael Caton-Jones

     Climb aboard for this rousing fact-based adventure, chronicling the final mission of the famous WWII B-17 “Flying Fortress”, the Memphis Belle. We meet the crew, a motley group of ten young men with one thing on their collective minds: One more mission. One last mission. They’ve flown twenty-four bombing runs without suffering a scratch. But will they be so fortunate on their twenty-fifth? The first half of the film has been critically bashed as being one long war movie cliché, “tired” characters and all, and yes, it tends to be a bit slow. But the real reason to watch this one is for the second half, when the bomber is in the air and the action comes a-flyin’. Even the characters seem to lighten up as they do what they do best onboard the Belle. But the tension and peril, mixed with adventure and drama more than make up for any previous clumsiness of the script. Exciting and satisfying, Memphis Belle flies high.
OUR RATING— *** ½