The War (film)

For other uses of the term, see The War

The War is a 1994 film starring Elijah Wood as Stu Simmons and Kevin Costner as his father. It is a coming of age tale set in the Mississippi after Costner's character's return from the Vietnam War in 1970. The film gained Wood a young actor's award.

Plot

Kevin Costner plays a shell-shocked Vietnam Veteran whose emotional issues prevent him from being able to hold down a job and care for his impoverished family. Stu Simmons (Elijah Wood), his sister and their friends spend the summer building a tree house, and learn their own lessons about war and peace in a conflict with a neighboring gang of kids [the Lipnicki kids] who seek to destroy what they have built. It also deals with racial discrimination. The town begins to look down upon Stu's family because he and his sister have befriended an overweight African American.

Production

The movie was produced by Island World, and distributed by Universal Pictures, United International Pictures, and Argentina Video Home. Eric Eisner executive produced. The film received a PG-13 by the MPAA. It has a 126 minute run time.

Critical response

Wood's performance in this movie gained him a nomination for a 'Young Star Award' (for which he was nominated four times, and won twice), and Roger Ebert said in his review of the film that:

"Elijah Wood has emerged, I believe, as the most talented actor in his age group, in Hollywood history".^[1]

Notes

External links

The War at the Internet Movie Database