Really Surprised!

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Blistering performances.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Millions of American families have been through tragedy like this, and nobody but a family who has gone through this can imagine the pain of losing a child through war. The pain of the mother is probably even greater, and this TV movie chose America's "funny girl" to play the part. Carol Burnett takes on her most unique role, playing it straight, simply and beautifully. From the moment she asks son Dennis Erdman if he's packed (to which he responds that he will after performing his regular farming duties), you can see that she is hiding her fear. When she tries to hide tears, it's as if she's seeing into the future, as this is 1969, and this is the Vietnam war he is heading off to, and unlike he tells her, it will not be over in six months. Letters from their son describe what he's going through, read by her husband (Ned Beatty), keep her jumping, writing letters to everybody from Nixon on down. Then, there's that fateful day that they receive a visitor, and you have a sense that she already knows, such is the power of motherhood. In disgust to the way Beatty keeps asking if his boy is dead to the almost abruptly cold way a preacher says yes, and all Carol Burnett can do is look blankly as she questions the definition of what friendly fire is. In sitting there watching it, I wanted to scream out in anger (and in not such polite terms), "Just say somebody screwed up!" No war death is "friendly", no matter what caused it.Coming out around the same time as several other films on the Vietnam war, this TV movie was a ratings giant, one greatly publicized, and one that even school aged kids got to stay up late for because of its themes of anti-war, the rights of families to demand the truth, and the right to question why young men are continuously being killed, especially in a war we still believe we had no reason to be there in the first place. Burnett's mother is a no nonsense woman whose grief erupts into anger towards a government that seems intent on ignoring her or sending form letters and respond to her with standard, pointless answers. Burnett is outstanding, Beatty brilliantly supporting, and a young Timothy Hutton aw the younger son representing what she intends to not go through again or see any other mother suffer without getting to the truth.

This film is available as DVD at amazon.uk, and amazon.de, United Kingdom and Germany. Unfortunately not in USA except very high cost VHS version. The German disc (also the provider for UK) has English & German audio tracks. It's a shame no one USA provides this as a DVD version. I saw this when it first came out as a TV movie. It's incredible. An almost forgotten war now except those who participated or were effected in other ways. It's the story of all wars. Waste, horror and unintended consequences. Sad. It continues today in Afghanistan. Friendly Fire, Fratricide. Sometimes they are seen as Heroes. Mostly they are victims as are all the dead of The Extreme Form of Politics, War. Carol Burnett's performance is just heartbreaking. It is hard to get an off Region DVD legally. Surely amazon.com could offer this in a Region 1 DVD. There's a market. Please fill it. It's available on amazon Prime to view. That's like watching pictures of kittens but unable to touch them.

I remember watching the film on T.V years ago and Carol Burnett's acting was superb.Ned Beatty played it like the character of the Father would be.All these people wanted was the truth with no lies.Also as I remember there was a emphasis on whether he wore his Flak Jacket.Though if you we're fired upon by friendly fire that would kill you regardless.Being a true story made this film more credible and sad these things happen but they do.Like what happened to Pat Tilman the football player turned Soldier who was killed by friendly fire.They should of told the truth right away and not lied.I think Carol Burnett should of been nominated for a Emmy.Its hard to find good television with meaningful TV movies that are true stories these days.I can't believe it was 1979 when I watched this T.V. movie.I was 16 years old.

This movie was made solely to discredit the Military. Friendly fire is a fact of life and has happened in every war. It is unavoidable.That said, the movie went out of its way to discredit the Military as a bumbling bunch of nitwits trying to hide the real truth from the American people, and the poor Mullens were lied to and given the old run around to prevent them from finding out the truth.To say it doesn't happen would be untrue, it does but not to the extent that was portrayed in the movie.When the Military plays fast and loose with the truth Hollywood is the quick to point it out, but when Hollywood plays with the truth and stretches to the point of being absurd no one says a word.The movie, except for the acting was trash.