This film begins in 1943 with a newly commissioned officer by the name of "Lieutenant Michael Grayson" (Van Johnson) reporting for duty at Camp Shelby, Mississippi with the firm expectation that he will be assigned to his old unit from Texas as it prepares for deployment overseas. He reports, however, he is greatly disappointed to learn that he has been assigned the position of platoon leader in a company solely comprised of a group of Japanese Americans instead. Not only that, but it soon becomes quite apparent that he nurses some racial animus towards them, and this complicates matters for everyone concerned. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an okay World War 2 movie which benefited to a great degree from the fact that it showed an aspect of the war that many Americans may not realize. Likewise, the fact that it also highlighted the bigotry that was partially inflamed by the American government itself, is also quite noteworthy. Be that as it may, while I don't consider this to be a bad film by any means, I was somewhat disappointed by the shallow character development given to the Japanese American soldiers overall. That said, however, the film is still worth a watch for those viewers who might be interested, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.
Review of Go for Broke!
