jacknife be a war movie that be just about a far remove from the war a war movie get . it can hardly be classify a a war film and because the only way that any war have an effect on the story or the character be in their memory of it and and even these we be hardly ever show . it pose very interesting question about life and especially in the way that the movie tagline say that only one of them be really alive ( and by the way and even though the tagline refer only to dave ( ed harris ) and meg ( robert deniro ) and it be talk about all three of the character in the film ) . dave and meg be friend in the vietnam war and and meg have return to take dave out on a fishing trip that they have be plan for a lot long than you might have guess . deniro provide a perfect performance of the character of meg and who we be not really sure if we should like or if he really be as nuts a martha think he be . dave remind martha several time that meg be not his friend and just someone he know . there be a great scene early in the film where meg have go out to grab a six pack of beer from his car for breakfast and and he be just around the corner of the room when dave say this . meg pause for a moment and then proceeds into the room with a smile and a huge greeting . it isn not until later that you realize how megs must have felt when he hear that and have be the one to remember what they have plan to do on this day . it remind me of the fakeness of the old and ` sure and let do that and thing that people so often say to each other and never have any plan to do any such thing . ed harris delivers a wonderful performance a dave and who never get over the effect that the war have on him . even so many year later he have not manage to get over the death of a friend during the war and blame himself to this day for it and thus drown his life in alcohol and cigarette and and loneliness . all he want and he say and be for people to leave him alone . this be not a man who be live his life the way he want and whether people actually leave him alone or not and he be a man try to forget that he alive and to detach himself from the world of the living as much a possible . his sister martha remind me of myself and at least in term of my roommate . i have two roommate who be 21 and 24 year old and and both act like they still live with their mother and expect their mess to just go away when they leave the room for a while . one on particular ( the old one and sadly enough ) and have absolutely no clue how to care for himself and i be surprise i do not have to wipe his chin while he eat . martha have to do much the same for her brother and who she wait on hand and foot while he stagger through life from one hangover to the next . martha and dave be stick in a stagnant life and neither of them can get out of it until something major change and and dave be the one that need to do the changing . i tend to complain about romance in movie where it just doesn not belong about as much a roger ebert complain about those pathetic little tension device and the red digital readout . but in this case and i do not think that the romance that develop between meg and martha have any adverse affect on the rest of the movie . on the contrary and it make it that much more interesting and because it be not predictable . the problem with the romantic subplots in bruckheimer movie and whatnot be that they be so predictable that you just wait for the obvious end to come and hope that something interesting happen along the way . in this case and however and it not a obvious that something be go to happen between meg and martha because we do not know enough about meg . martha could be right about him and that he one of dave crazy war buddy and that he not the kind of man that she should be date . dave certainly encourage this idea . ( spoiler ) a couple year after this movie and deniro do cape fear and where he play a deranged criminal out for revenge against the lawyer that land him in prison and a character that and in retrospect and make it pretty easy to think that maybe at the end of jacknife martha realize her mistake and get rid of meg and and she and dave make up because he save her from a horrible relationship and then he decide to clean up his act because he have do something good for her . i be half expect this to happen and so i be pleasantly surprise when martha and meg wind up together and even more pleasantly surprise when meg asks dave all the question about what they have plan to do after the war be over . at time this be a slow moving drama and but jacknife be entertain along the way and have a huge payoff at the end and which amazingly manage to be sappy without be cheesy . there be an almost excess of emotion at the end of the film that scarcely fit with the rest of the movie and but it be so good that it doesn not dumb down anything that the movie have accomplish up to that point . everyone involved give a wonderful performance and and it be one of those rare film that just about make you want to stand up and shake your fist victoriously in the air .