This was a very compelling account of one young man's desire to be a true hero. I cried often. My heart goes out to the family. Yet, to see the mom and dad wearing pro-marine clothing but wishing their other son wouldn't enlist is rather disturbing. I have lost a child and it is a terribly difficult life experience to rebound from. But the room, the constant reminder of loss and sadness, mom pulling out the officer's hat and the combat boots... this borders on the morbid. Their poor younger son must feel compelled to live up to the love and attention that his slain brother now receives posthumously.
This movie is a powerful anti-war statement except for the family's obsession with holding onto the tragedy and glamorizing the heroics. War and those who die in war, particularly in a war that does nothing to better the lives of people on this planet, is a tragic and useless throwback to some caveman mentality. The sons were better off staying home and killing ducks and deer and watching their father stuff them. Dad, you kill animals, but you won't shake your younger son to convince him that dying in a war based on greed is not heroism... it's a great deception... and it's entirely unnecessary.