Soldiers of Change (2006)

In the midst of riots rebellion and revolution of the 1960's a reluctant soldier finds himself in the center of two wars. Ripped apart from the front lines of the civil rights struggle at home and thrust into the war in Vietnam Randy is forced into a heroic struggle for his life and his love. Soldiiers of Change tells the explosive story of one man's coming of age during the assassinations protest and war that defined the 60's and changed the world.System Requirements:Running Time: 95 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: PG-13 UPC: 025192983429 Manufacturer No: 29834 Product Description

Don't let the title fool you...

This movie is not really about a soldier or any changes he undergoes. It goes much deeper than that and the person who undergoes the change is not the soldier.

The original title for this film was "The Painting" which is a more fitting title and which created a sense of awe and wonder as the story unfolded. Where is this painting? What is it about? What does it have to do with these people? Oh wait I know what the painting is of!... Oh crap, I was wrong, but there went my heartstrings.

Initially I decided to see this movie because it had Stacey Dash whom I've had a crush on for years. She plays a teenager in this movie and was 35 or 36 at the time. She was also in "Clueless" where she played a 16 year old while actually being 29.

So I sat down to watch this movie and was very pleasantly surprised by the storyline and depth of emotion that was touched within me. Set in the 1960s, this is a story about honoring your family, standing up for what you believe in, and the decisions necessary to follow your heart knowing someone is going to get hurt. Is there such a thing as too open-minded? And is there any hope of redemption for the closed-minded? Is a gap between generations inevitable or can it be bridged?

Also starring Clifton Davis as the loyal friend, confidante and employee; Charles Shaughnessy as the stalwart patriarch; Heath Freeman as the son with seemingly 2 fathers; Stacey Dash as the love interest who fuels a young man's imagination of what could be and his search for equality.

Watch this movie and see how love can fracture and heal. February 28, 2008

Soldiers of Change

I much enjoyed Soldiers of Change. The movie takes two families looking at the same events and how those events affected their lives. A must see. July 7, 2007

I think this professional review says it all...

"Soldiers of Change" (aka "The Painting")
by Bob Westal
(2002-05-22)
2002, Un-rated, 120 minutes, A Joshua D. Rose Film
The thousands of mixed-race couples brave enough to get married before the establishment of civil rights deserve a movie, but no one deserves "The Painting." This is the sort of film that would drive Miss Daisy to upchuck at the shenanigans of its saintly, cardboard characters and its bizarre, rose-colored depiction of U.S. race relations. "The Painting" starts out as a sort of wannabe Ivory-Merchant, a production of "The Not Ready for Masterpiece Theater" players, and then it gets weird.

Directed by Joshua Rose and written by Buddy Shieffield, with a story by David Rose and J. Marina Muhlfriedel, this is the story of the love between the white, rich and privileged Randy Barrington IV (played by Cody Dorkin at age 13, and from 18 on by Heath Freeman) and the black and somewhat less privileged Hallie Ayres (Shari Dyon Perry and Stacey Dash). The problem is, we're in the 1960s, and Randy is the son of an art-obsessed multimillionaire.

A third-generation Kansas City-born tycoon with a mysterious British accent, Randolf Barrington IV (Charles Shaughnessy, TV's "The Nanny") is a basically decent and broadminded man, but he ultimately draws the line at an interracial marriage. Randolf the elder is notable because he's the only person around with the slightest persistent character flaw.

The reason no one else in the movie has any flaws is that they all listen to Thomas Ayres, the Barringtons' butler and driver. Played with dignity and a touch of humor by showbiz lifer Clifton Davis ("Any Given Sunday," "That's My Mama!"), Ayres is in the Sidney Poitier tradition of superhuman cinematic black men. His superpower is that every time he gives a speech, which he does as often as most people change their underwear, whoever is listening immediately realizes the error of his or her ways. (Mr. Dickson of "Room 222" had the same ability. Must be some kind of power-ring bequeathed by the Guardians of Oa....)

As the story progresses and the millionaire tries to keep his son away from Thomas's niece, the butler quits rather than be a party to keeping the couple apart. A whole lot of other stuff happens over the film's 105 minutes, but, despite a mostly African-American cast, most of it still happens to the white people.

Speaking of the cast, nobody - black or white - emerges unscathed. Sometimes the actors almost connect; other times, they barely seem to be listening to each other. I enjoyed seeing Ben Vereen ("Roots," "All That Jazz," etc.), a favorite of my youth, but I didn't know what to make of his wizened blind gospel singer. He would be just another walking, talking cliche, except that also seems to be putting the moves on a teenage male civil rights worker.

Boy, but these people are ahead of their time.Yet, "The Painting" is the sort of sixties movie where the makers are so terrified we'll forget it's about the sixties that they feel compelled to include every historical event of the time. There will be shock and horror after the assassinations of JFK, MLK, and RFK. There will be arguments about the Vietnam war. We will hear "A Whiter Shade of Pale" and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida." We will spend time with the grunts in 'Nam. Ultimately, the only thing which saves viewers of "The Painting" from unrelieved torture is its steadily growing shamelessness. By the film's end, the plot has taken so many turns in its desperation to make us feel something, a kind of giddiness takes over. A few tragic moments might actually threaten to cause a brief lump in the throat - but then something so absurdly contrived happens, so obviously inflicted on the characters, that all you can do is giggle.

Note to screenwriters: If you're going to create an African-American character who's a kindly, wise and compassionate servant, and people keep calling him "Uncle," you might want to think through the implications of naming him "Thomas." January 31, 2007

Good premise ... lousy movie

Felt like I was watching an "ABC After School Special" from the 70's...Historically inaccurate, the son is too perfect (and his father too wooden). Most viewers could probably fast-forward through the dialog and guess fairly accurately what was being said. The cover is confusing, as so little time is spent in Vietnam.

I'd rather watch "Platoon" again... November 6, 2006

Black and White

I loved this movie, the best I have seen in years. If you are in an interacial relationship I promise you that it will jerk some tears. There was some decrepancies in the timeline and war draft rules for vietnam, but if you set those aside you will love this movie. I am a white man married to a black woman and we deal with these problems everyday, so it really hits home even if it takes place 30 years ago. The summary of the movie has nothing to do with the actual screenplay, I rented this thinking it was a war movie, but it was a love story with about 10 minutes of battle scenes. I was not dissapointed in the end. April 23, 2006

More reviews at Amazon.com ...