Gregor Jordan's biting black comedy set on a US army base in West Germany just before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Joachim Pheonix plays Elwood a wheeling dealing soldier who plays the black market for all its worth as well as being heavily into heroin production for a local Turkish gangster.He can get away with all this as his superior officer(Col Burman - Ed Harris)can be run rings around....he also servicing Burman's wife on the side as well - life is good....until a new staff Sgt turns up and Elwood finds his life turned upside down.
The new Sgt is Robert Lee(Scott Glenn)who wants nothing to do with Elwoods flash lifestyle(Japanese TV,Mercedes car)and sets out to take him down.
Elwood discovers that Lee's teenage daughter(Robyn - Anne Paquin)is on base and decides to mess with Lee's head by dating her - all this does is send Lee into an even greater fury and things get complicated when Elwood discovers he has genuine feelings for her....just when a major shipment of heroin is due to be processed....

The whole thing is terrificly played - the soldiers are bored without anything to do and Elwood sees his marketeering as a distraction until he can get out the Army and the various other soldiers are either in on the various scams or are junkies....junkies in charge of some fearsome weaponary.....
Phoenix is as exellent as always and Harris plays against type as the bumbling Burman - (he usually plays the harder character and originially went for the Lee role but thought Burman was more interesting) and Glenn chews everything in sight - he inhabits the character with such sadistic relish....its a tremendous performance.

Obviously any film that portays the US Military in anything but a heroic light is going to have problems....this permiered on Sept 7 2001....4 days before the world changed and was shelved getting a limited release a couple of years later.....but still being targeted as unpatriotic....its very funny and as a satire on the Army is up there with M.A.S.H and Catch 22 - terrific stuff.