History Film / AMidnightClear

-->'''Will''': Griffin was a mortician in civilian life. His main passion now seems to be generating business for his army counterparts.

''A Midnight Clear'' is a 1992 UsefulNotes/WorldWarII film directed by Keith Gordon and starring Creator/EthanHawke and Creator/GarySinise, amongst others. Gordon adapted the story from the [[TheFilmOfTheBook eponymous 1982 novel]] by William Wharton.

* LiteralMinded: Lieutenant Ware, who requisitioned for the Intelligence Squad, well, intelligent people. A.K.A the soldiers who scored the highest on testing.

* GoneHorriblyRight: The squad wants to get Mother a medal so he can get off the lines. [[spoiler: When they feign a battle with the Germans, the completely uninformed Mother shows up and promptly shoots at the Germans. This causes a full-on firefight which leaves all the Germans dead and Mundy and Schutzer fatally wounded.]]

* GoneHorriblyRight: The squad wants to get Mother a medal so he can get off the lines. [[spoiler: When they feign a battle with the Germans, the completely uninformed Mother shows up and promptly shoots down the Germans. This causes a full-on firefight that leaves all the Germans dead and Mundy and Schutzer fatally wounded.]]

* GoneHorriblyRight: The squad wants to get Mother a medal so he can get off the lines. [[spoiler: When they feign a battle with the Germans, the completely uninformed Mother shows up and promptly shoots down the Germans. This causes a full-on firefight.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The four survivors of Intelligence never make contact again when the war ends, with the exception of Mother sending a lone $10 dollar bill to Will every Christmas, to pay off a bet.]]

During the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, a US Army Intelligence squad commanded by Will Knott (Hawke) is sent on a reconnaissance patrol in the Ardennes. After occupying an abandoned chateau, they encounter a German platoon recently returned from the fighting in Russia, who have no wish to die in the upcoming offensive. After some [[CommonalityConnection bonding]] over Christmas, the Americans hatch up a scheme to take the Germans prisoner, in the meantime acquiring a medal for one of the soldiers, Vance "Mother Wilkins" (Sinise), who is suffering from a [[HeroicBSOD breakdown]]. They hope the medal will get him a safe job off the lines.

During the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, a US Army Intelligence Squad commanded by Will Knott (Hawke) is sent on a reconnaissance patrol in the Ardennes. After occupying an abandoned chateau, they encounter a German platoon recently returned from the fighting in Russia, who have no wish to die in the upcoming offensive. After some [[CommonalityConnection bonding]] over Christmas, the Americans hatch up a scheme to take the Germans prisoner, in the meantime acquiring a medal for one of the soldiers, Vance "Mother Wilkins" (Sinise), who is suffering from a [[HeroicBSOD breakdown]]. They hope the medal will get him a safe job off the lines.

''A Midnight Clear'' is a 1992 war film directed by Keith Gordon and starring Creator/EthanHawke and Creator/GarySinise, amongst others. Gordon adapted the story from the eponymous 1982 novel by William Wharton.

DuringTheWar, a US Army Intelligence Squad commanded by Will Knott is sent on a reconnaissance patrol in the Ardennes. They encounter a German platoon recently returned from the fighting in Russia, who have no wish to die in the upcoming offensive. After some [[CommonalityConnection bonding]] over Christmas, they hatch up a scheme to take the Germans prisoner, in the meantime acquiring a medal for one of the soldiers, Vance "Mother Wilkins", who is suffering from a [[HeroicBSOD breakdown]]. They hope the medal will get him a safe job off the lines.

The film has a recognizable cast with a heavy dash of RetroactiveRecognition. Although it has was released to critical acclaim and eventually carved a niche for itself as a CultClassic amongst war movie fans, it suffered from being released between the fad of anti-UsefulNotes/VietnamWar movies and the surge of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII movies.

* BodyHorror: [[PosthumousCharacter Eddie]], who loses his left arm and suffers horrific facial wounds during an ill-fated patrol. This happened before the events of the movie, it is shown in flashback.

DuringTheWar, a US Army Intelligence Squad commanded by Will Knott is sent on a reconnaissance patrol in the Ardennes. They encounter a German platoon recently returned from the fighting in Russia, who have no wish to die in the upcoming offensive. After some [[NotSoDifferent bonding]] over Christmas, they hatch up a scheme to take the Germans prisoner, in the meantime acquiring a medal for one of the soldiers, Vance "Mother Wilkins", who is suffering from a [[HeroicBSOD breakdown]]. They hope the medal will get him a safe job off the lines.

* NotSoDifferent: Like the Americans, the Germans are mostly draftees who just want to go home safe. It is implied that they are both recon units.

* BodyHorror: [[PosthumousCharacter Eddie]], whom loses his left arm and suffers horrific facial wounds during an ill-fated patrol. This happened before the events of the movie, it is shown in flashback.

* GoneHorriblyRight: The squad wants to get Mother a medal so he can get of the lines. [[spoiler: When they feign a battle with the Germans, the completely uninformed Mother shows up and promptly shoots down the Germans. This causes a full-on firefight.]]

* MoodWhiplash. The fake "battle". The soldiers are grinning, enjoying themselves not actually fighting for once. [[spoiler: Then Mother shows up and starts dropping the Germans.]]

''A Midnight Clear'' is a 1992 war film directed by Keith Gordon and starring Creator/EthanHawke and Creator/GarySinise, amongst others. A clever little take on the genre that manages to be both [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming heartwarming]] and [[{{Tearjerker}} heartwrenching]] at the same time. Gordon adapted the story from the eponymous 1982 novel by William Wharton.

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * GoneHorriblyWrong

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * HoistByTheirOwnPetard

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * {{Jerkass}}: Oh god, Major Griffin.

%% commented out as ZeroContextExample * SoldiersAtTheRear: Major Griffin.

''A Midnight Clear'' is a 1992 war film directed by Keith Gordon and starring Creator/EthanHawke and Gary Sinise, amongst others. A clever little take on the genre that manages to be both [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming heartwarming]] and [[{{Tearjerker}} heartwrenching]] at the same time. Gordon adapted the story from the eponymous 1982 novel by William Wharton.

* AManIsNotAVirgin: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Will, Mel, Stan and [[PosthumousCharacter Eddie]] who look to lose their virginity before shipping overseas. They succeed.

''A Midnight Clear'' is a 1992 war film starring Creator/EthanHawke and Gary Sinise, amongst others. A clever little take on the genre that manages to be both [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming heartwarming]] and [[{{Tearjerker}} heartwrenching]] at the same time. It is based on the eponymous 1982 novel by William Wharton.

The film has a recognizable cast with a heavy dash of RetroactiveRecognition. Although it has was released to critical acclaim and eventually carved a niche for itself as a CultClassic amongst war movie fans, it suffered from being released between the fad of anti-UsefulNotes/VietnamWar movies and the surge of UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo movies.

* FriendlyEnemy

The film has a major HeyItsThatGuy cast with a heavy dash of RetroactiveRecognition. Although it has was released to critical acclaim and eventually carved a niche for itself as a CultClassic amongst war movie fans, it suffered from being released between the fad of anti-UsefulNotes/VietnamWar movies and the surge of UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo movies.