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Gardens of Stone

Play trailer Poster for Gardens of Stone R 1987 1h 52m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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41% Tomatometer 17 Reviews 55% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Grizzled war veteran Sgt. Clell Hazard (James Caan) is disheartened when he is stationed as a guard in Arlington National Cemetery instead of an instructor of new recruits during the Vietnam War. When eager Pvt. Jackie Willow (D.B. Sweeney) is stationed under Hazard, the vet aims to educate the youth about war. Along with his old friend, Sgt. Maj. Goody Nelson (James Earl Jones), Hazard does his best to school Willow before he is deployed to Vietnam -- but both know that it may not be enough.
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Gardens of Stone

Critics Reviews

View All (17) Critics Reviews
Henry Sheehan Chicago Reader Bereft of that core, Gardens of Stone drifts off into decoration that’s intricate and highly accomplished, but strictly ornamental... Rated: 2/4 May 10, 2022 Full Review Variety Staff Variety Seems to take its name not so much from the Arlington Memorial Cemetery, where much of the action takes place, but from the stiffness of the characters it portrays. Dec 11, 2007 Full Review Time Out There's a pervasive and worrying sense of the central issues being gently but undeniably fudged. Jun 24, 2006 Full Review Megan Fisher Loud and Clear Reviews Gardens of Stone lacks the narrative focus that it needs for its emotional punches to land, and so it ends up feeling stiff and heavy-handed. Jan 11, 2025 Full Review Cathy Burke United Press International For want of a timeless message on the horrors of war, Coppola does indeed tell a compelling story of one man's battle on the homefront. Caan gives a stunning performance after a five-year absence from the movie screen. Nov 8, 2016 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Subdued war drama on life on the home front during the Vietnam war. Rated: B May 20, 2012 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Blu B Outside of JEJ and Coppelas solid direction, there really isn't much else here. And to be quite frank if those two were removed this would collpse on it's self way worse. The editing isn't good and the pacing is terrible. Once he arrives on base, it feels like stuff just happens. Caan finding a girlfriend, wanting to go to Vietnam, marrying his girl, drama that happens on base, it all feels so unfocused. Were led to believe Sweeney is the main character at first but honestly as it goes on it feels like Caan is more the main thing and than other times I'm not sure because it gets so muddled and unfocused. It just glides along at a slow boring pace the entire way and just tries rushing stuff at the end and collapses. It's soooo boring and just never gets better. Everything else is ok enough I guess. You know the music is so walty and slow and boring. You'd think they'd use the TAPS more than once at the very end. Coppella again has some great framing, camerawork, and the idea is a unique setting. But I'm just not sure what this is trying to say. Is it trying to be a melodrama or trying to blend domestic war with romance like Coming Home? The Best Years of Our Lives? I'm just not sure. No real ideas are explored here besides being important to the cause despite not seeing combat and even that feels like it's forgotten about for long stretches when we focus on the romance which feels kind of pointless for Caan and rushed and undercooked for Sweeney. It's why his death feels so underwhelming and a big nothing burger. Skip This. I think it's a great idea kind of like a Army Wives type of thing but just doesn't work. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 04/25/25 Full Review Shay W It is almost like a play, and very much a character driven one. A story driven by friendships and relationships. Populated by characters and personalities we don't often see in movies about the US military. The movie tries to show that a lot of the characters in their military roles, are also just normal people. Angelica Houston was particularly good in it. Perhaps the reason it was not so well received or remembered is, well, how do you make a small, wordy movie, after Apocalypse now and The Godfather movies where the characters were so large, and some many scenes were just epic in scale? Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/09/24 Full Review Steve D A lot of talent but little to show for it. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/02/23 Full Review Audience Member The worst 01 hour: and 52 minutes ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member It was the only movie I've ever walked out on in my life. It was dull and tedious. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member As a former service member, I am intrigued by the uniforms and how exact they were portrayed in this movie. Coppola is a real stickler for dress in his movies. I thought the movie was well done. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Gardens of Stone

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Movie Info

Synopsis Grizzled war veteran Sgt. Clell Hazard (James Caan) is disheartened when he is stationed as a guard in Arlington National Cemetery instead of an instructor of new recruits during the Vietnam War. When eager Pvt. Jackie Willow (D.B. Sweeney) is stationed under Hazard, the vet aims to educate the youth about war. Along with his old friend, Sgt. Maj. Goody Nelson (James Earl Jones), Hazard does his best to school Willow before he is deployed to Vietnam -- but both know that it may not be enough.
Director
Francis Ford Coppola
Producer
Francis Ford Coppola, Michael I. Levy
Screenwriter
Ronald Bass
Production Co
ML Delphi Premier Productions, Zoetrope Studios, TriStar Pictures
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$4.4M
Runtime
1h 52m
Sound Mix
Surround
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