Jordan O'Neil (Demi Moore) has been chosen as the first woman to undertake the intensive training programme for the Navy SEALs.
Under the uncompromising eye of Command Master Chief Urgayle (Viggo Mortensen), O’Neil has to endure gruelling training exercises that are designed to push trainees to their breaking point.
On top of her training, O’Neil has to contend with the sexism of her fellow trainees, and the political games of her sponsor, Senator DeHaven (Anne Bancroft) and the Navy’s top brass.
With all this pressure, will ‘GI Jane’ crack?
GI Jane is a convergence of two movements - the first is the rise of the Action heroine in Hollywood action films; the second is the context of the military in the nineties, specifically the integration policies and scandals of the US military.
The prime example is the Tailhook scandal, in which multiple members of the US Navy and Marines assaulted multiple people at a convention in 1991. This last scandal is believed to have influenced the change in policy which allowed women to be assigned to combat aircraft and ships.
The character has to overcome a variety of barriers - physical and psychological tests; misogyny of her colleagues and superiors; and unknown to her, the political machinations of the Defense Department.
What makes the film interesting is the obstacles O’Neil has to contend with outside of training.
A key aspect of the film is the importance of perception to the recruitment of GI Jane.
When the senator is going through potential candidates, she dismisses one for not being photogenic enough.
There is an underlying theme of paranoia about O’Neil’s looks, from the overt leers of fellow trainees, to the Navy’s weaponisation of the press to derail her.
O’Neil is accused of being a lesbian after photos of her having fun with her friends on a beach.
Part of O’Neil’s journey is how she alters her appearance and presentation to gain respect.
She shaves her own head and develops a heavily muscled physique. She also gets facial scars which stay throughout the movie.
The final step on her journey to gaining the other soldiers’ respect is through her ability and willingness to take pain.
During the final major training exercise, she is separated from her squad and tortured in front of them.
After she is able to free herself and physically overcome Urgayle, O’Neil’s transformation is completed when she takes on the trainees’ machismo and homophobia: “Suck my dick!”
Director Ridley Scott turns every training exercise into a set-piece - slow motion, blue filters, hyper-real sound design. In style and energy it feels more like the work of his brother, Tony - and that is not a criticism.
It may not be actual combat but the filmmakers employ the same familiar techniques.
Around its release, this film was ridiculed. Demi Moore’s star was falling due to a series of bombs, and as the press is want to do with female movie stars, her projects came under fire.
As O’Neil, Moore is good. She has grit and fire - there is a focus and determination behind all of her choices.
Despite the movie title and the poster’s focus on her buzzcut, she does not fit the stereotype of an action hero, or the men around her. Her size and voice almost act as a rebuke in themselves, and that contrast works for the movie.
Her strongest moments are when she has to outwit her opponents, particularly the game of chicken she has to play with the Senator after she throws O’Neil under the bus.
The other standout in the cast is Mortensen. The character is fairly taciturn, but the actor conveys a lot without saying anything - he is giving a lot through sharp glances and simple nods.
What is most frustrating about GI Jane is that it does not know what kind of movie it wants to be.
The third act is a total fumble, with a contrived mission that does not connect with the rest of the movie.
GI Jane is structured like a sports movie, except without the satisfaction of the athlete beating the course. While the mission is a success, it is not connected to the previous story so there is no sense of victory over O’Neil’s real adversaries, the senator or the top brass.
The action sequence is too ensemble-focused, and while there are callbacks to her intel background, nothing about this scene feels character-based. The mission is also a little obscure - I had to check the Wikipedia summary to figure out what it was about.
It is a bizarrely underwhelming finale.
While it is not fully successful, GI Jane is an interesting timepiece, and it is fun to watch - it deserves a lot more than to be a hacky punchline at the Oscars.
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