Jason C
Reviewer

      American soldiers can be murderers, liars, cheats and robbers. They can have the morality of pond scum. To say that isn't to be anti-American. Instead, it only verifies that soldiers, in fact, are people too, and are just as likely to have faults as the average Joe Schmo who watches war through televised reports.
 
     With “Buffalo Soldiers”, Miramax Films continues its controversial season, showcasing intelligent films loathed by the parties in them. First came “The Magdalene Sisters”, which religious leaders labeled as anti-Catholic because it depicted a true story of how the Catholic Church used thousands of women as laundry slaves at a particular convent. Now comes “Buffalo Soldiers”, which pushed its release back two years because these soldiers aren't heroes.
 
     “Buffalo Soldiers” isn't meant to be a political film about Germany in the early 1990s, when the film is set. Nor is it intended to be a Shakespearean morality play about the trials and tribulations of the U.S. military. Instead, it's a biting satire filled with black comedy that highlights the absurdity of everything going on. Specialist Elwood (Joaquin Phoenix) becomes the base's black-market king, which should not surprise the military because the only reason he joined was to avoid six months in jail following an arrest, though he states that this might not have been the right choice. Throughout the film, he deals with producing illegal drugs, stealing weapons and having sex with both his colonel's wife and his top sergeant's daughter. With no war going on, this is just a game to Elwood.
 
     “Buffalo Soldiers” might lack some of the satirical edge of “Three Kings”, but it still commands attention. Watching drugged-up soldiers drive a tank over a Volkswagen bug and into a gas station is humorous, but the humor turns dark when the gas station explodes, killing two officers looking to see what the tank is doing in the neighboring town. And then there's a soldier on drugs who wants to play football and catches a touchdown pass before slamming headfirst into the corner of a table, instantly killing him. These soldiers have no battles to fight, but still die quickly, as if the action took place on the battlefield and not the base camp.
 
     Although none of the performances are particularly Oscar-worthy, Scott Glenn does a commendable job as the top sergeant who will not let drugs destroy the soldiers or allow Elwood to destroy his daughter. Channeling Chris Cooper in “American Beauty”, Glenn gives this black comedy its serious tone. Ed Harris plays against his type as a needy, desperate colonel trying to win praise, and when he gets shot down at a party to bolster his reputation, the audience has to feel for him. He is the one truly innocent character and deserves much better than the world around him.
 
     What “Buffalo Soldiers” really deserves is a wider release not accompanied by critics across the nation labeling it as anti-American and using the flag-waving times of post-Sept. 11 to send this satire into obscurity. Though it lacks some of the emotional depth and political power it attempts to achieve, “Buffalo Soldiers” is an absorbing crime story that quite expertly teeters between serious military drama and anti-military satire.