Gardens of Stone

5/21/2022

**_Coppola’s obscure gem about the war at home during the Vietnam conflict_** In the late 60s, a cynical Korean vet (James Caan) would rather be training soldiers for Vietnam in Georgia, but instead he’s stuck at Arlington National Cemetery playing what he calls “toy soldier” with his colleagues (James Earl Jones, etc.). When an old buddy’s gung-ho son shows up (D.B. Sweeney), he settles for trying to keep him from becoming another statistic in The ’Nam. Anjelica Huston plays his potential girlfriend and Mary Stuart Masterson the greenhorn’s girl. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola based on the 1983 novel, "Gardens of Stone" (1987) is a worthy companion piece to all those Vietnam War flicks of the 70s-90s as it chronicles what was happening on the home front. It’s a war drama, but not