The War

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The War ★★½ 1994 (PG-13)

Post-Vietnam war drama, set in 1970 Mississippi, centers on a children's battle over a treehouse but becomes a sermon on love, death, family values, pacifism, and the physical and spiritual wounds of war. After helping son Stu (Wood) and daughter Lidia (Randall) build their treehouse, troubled Vietnam vet Stephen Simmons (Costner) tries to coax Stu to make peace with the bullies trying to take it over. However cliched, director Avnet allows a talented cast of kids to thoughtfully express a child's view of the world but gosh-darn-it the preachy tone can get down-right annoying. 126m/C VHS, DVD, HD DVD . Elijah Wood, Kevin Costner, Lexi (Faith) Randall, Mare Winningham, Christine Baranski, Bruce A. Young, Gary Basaraba, Raynor Scheine, Nick Searcy, Lucas Black; D: Jon Avnet; W: Kathy McWorter; C: Geoffrey Simpson; M: Thomas Newman.