Salvador

Richard Boyle, a photojournalist out of work and out of money, goes to El Salvador to shoot a war. What he finds is not a career opportunity but massacres by government forces, death squads and the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero. Oliver Stone directed and co-wrote. The source is the unpublished war reporting of the real journalist Richard Boyle, which Stone blended with his own Vietnam experience. James Woods plays Boyle and was nominated for an Oscar; the film took two nominations in total. For safety reasons it was shot in Mexico rather than El Salvador. Using real people became a problem: the man called Doctor Rock in the film, in reality Eric Isralow, later sued over the unauthorised use of his name. Roger Ebert gave it three stars out of four and Rotten Tomatoes sits at 91 percent. Some critics objected to the mix of fact and fiction and questioned how plausible parts of it were. The box office was a heavy disappointment: 1.5 million dollars domestically against a 4.5 million budget. Who it is for: viewers who like war correspondent stories and early Stone. Who it is not for: anyone who needs to like the protagonist. Boyle is shown as selfish, dishonest and willing to abuse his position, and the film does not cover it up.