Tigerland

September 1971, Fort Polk. In a company going through its last training before Vietnam, Private Roland Bozz, who is against the war, becomes a leader without wanting to. He finds ways to get his friends out of the army, which makes him both loved and dangerous. Joel Schumacher directed. It was Colin Farrell's breakout. It was shot at Camp Blanding in Florida on handheld 16mm, aiming for the feel of the real Tigerland training ground that existed at Fort Polk through the sixties and seventies. The budget was 10 million dollars and the film deliberately looks rough and cheap. 20th Century Fox released it in October 2000 and it was a box office disaster: 148,701 dollars worldwide. The reviews were good. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 77 percent, with critics praising the gritty texture and the cast. Metacritic gave it 55. It is counted among Schumacher's best-reviewed work. Who it is for: viewers who like pre-deployment training films and low-budget handheld cinema. Who it is not for: anyone expecting combat. Vietnam never appears; the whole film happens in the camp.