GI Jane Gives Demi Moore Her Best Role
If you like Demi Moore, hate her, or have never heard of her, you need to see G.I. Jane to understand just how capable she is of handling a film script and a starring role. This movie deals with issues many people in the world today are still not ready to discuss, and it does it with grace. From Moore’s acting, to the supporting work done by Viggo Mortensen and Anne Bancroft, this film is so much better than critics or the box office give it credit for.
GI Jane
G.I. Jane opens on a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with a Senator, Lillian DeHaven (Bancroft), arguing that the U.S. Armed Services does not have enough women.
She strikes a deal with her colleagues that if a series of test cases reveal that women can favorably compete, the entire U.S. military will fully integrate women into the U.S. Navy.
As DeHaven begins to hand select which women will stand for these test cases, we meet Jordan O’Neil (Moore), a highly ranked officer in the Navy who is extremely good at her job, but cannot get promoted higher because she doesn’t have the necessary field experience, which she can’t get because she’s a woman.
Cut to DeHaven looking through pictures of candidates and discarding most of them for being “too butch.” She lands on Jordan because she can represent the feminine side of the Navy.
Hell Week
Jordan jumps at the chance to be the first G.I. Jane, to join the SEALs as it will give her the experience she needs, and she enters “hell week.” Her Command Master Chief (Mortensen), makes it clear from day one that the 20 hour days will be grueling, that 60 percent of candidates wash out before the fourth week, and that anyone can leave anytime they want.
They just have to ring the giant bell hanging for all to see. Jordan outranks the Master Chief and all the other men, but she must adhere to the training like everyone else.
Jordan Brings It
G.I. Jane gives us a look at the brutal training these elite soldiers go through in preparation to become some of the greatest warriors the United States has at the ready. They push giant ship fenders up beach dunes, haul themselves through impossible obstacle courses, and drag land rafts.
Jordan makes it through eight weeks of training, showing genuine leadership, refusing allowances for her gender (like an extra 30 seconds on the obstacle course), and shaving her head because her hair gets in the way of her training.
Captured
During week eight, we see what G.I. Jane is really made of. The team is going through SERE training, which is a simulation of field experience, with Master Chief and his deputies acting as opposing forces and Jordan and her crew as the soldiers sent to take them down. One by one, Jordan’s team is captured and placed behind a fence.
When Jordan is captured, Master Chief takes her hostage and uses her gender against her, beating her up and placing her in a compromising position so that even his own men begin to question his actions.
Stream It Now
GFR SCORE
G.I. Jane makes us ask questions about women in the military we may not be ready to answer. It’s a tricky issue, and I speculate that the reason this film didn’t do exceptionally well is because it makes people uncomfortable. It also gives girls more girl-power movies, like the Ghostbusters remake, to cheer about. So, of course, I highly recommend you watch it the first chance you get. It’s streaming on Fubo TV now or you can rent it wherever you rent your movies.
