Not the greatest of its kind, Class Of '61 suffers a hastily delivered plot, too many plot holes and sometimes, poor acting. Anyway, Clive Owen and Laura Linney alone saved this albeit a bit shallow effort, as their delivery is very decent and very deep. The sheer tragedy of a class split, of friendships destroyed, of mates killed in the same battle is shown here. Well, bother, that could have been much better, had Ron Maxwell done that in his sheer Gettysburg style and grandeur. What the movie does show well is the very banality of death at war, the immediacy of tragedy looming, the simplicity of bloodshed. No heroism, almost, just a real suffering of men and women. That could be a better movie, but even now, it is OK
Review of Class of '61
