MovieChat Forums > Southern Comfort (1981) Discussion > Who do you think was the biggest liabili...

Who do you think was the biggest liability?

posted 16 years ago by Sonatine97
14 replies | jump to latest

Clearly some members of Bravo Team were either completely out of their depth or shouldn't even be allowed to suit up in a uniform. So who do you think was the biggest liability/dumb ass in the group?

For example, there was:

Stuckey - the immature Pfc who fired blanks at the Cajuns as the team were paddling away in their canoes. It could be argued he was the cause of their problems because the Cajuns obviously had no idea his gun was loaded with blanks and probably had the idea these "outsiders" wanted them dead.

"Coach" Bowden - a decent soldier at the beginning but panicked in the water, tipping all three canoes over; he also blew up Brion James' well stocked cabin through his own personal need for revenge. And then completely lost the plot and had to be tied up.

Sgt Casper - a deluded and incompetent leader who had no idea how to read the sun and find out where the Highway was even though he was advised enough times. As a consequence the patrol were walking deeper and deeper into trouble.

Lonnie Reece - the gung-ho soldier boy, who insisted they take the canoes without even asking first. Not only that but be couldn't be trusted given that he kept to himself a box of real bullets, leaving the rest of the team very much on their own. And he almost try to drown that Cajun too, even though there was no evidence to suggest it was him that killed Sgt Poole.

They were all incompetent or at fault in their own particular way. But if I had to pick one, I think Bowden was the biggest ass because even though he was talking about the avenging angel, surely if he wanted complete revenge over the death of his friend Sgt Poole, he would have killed the Cajun at some point rather than just blow up his cabin. Doesn't seem very "eye for an eye" to me just destroying someone's hut, and of course it meant a load of valuable supplies such as food, guns and dynamite got destroyed as well, thus making it even more difficult for our team to survive the Swamps & the pursuing Cajuns.

And I looked & I beheld a pale horse & the name that sat on him was Death & Hell followed with him.

[–] pking-2 16 years ago

As an individual, Reece was the most dangerous guy to have on a team. He was essentially a murder waiting to happen, who didn't follow orders.

But for this particular SNAFU, it was Poole. It was his job to NOT allow the stealing of the canoes, as well as establish the right level of expectations so that an idiot like Stuckey would never consider firing blanks for "fun." Instead, when it happened earlier in the film (when Stuckey fired on the soldiers as a joke) Poole just yelled a little about it and let it go.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (1688273) 16 years ago

I agree. Lack of discipline and leadership set the stage for disaster. As for the men, sociopath Reece was even worse than loopy "Coach" Bowden.

[–] zahara_uzumaki 15 years ago

I think Stuckey was the biggest liability because he was foolish, reckless, and his conduct was unbecoming of a soldier. Also, he was the one who started the conflict with the Cajuns by firing blanks at them.

[–] BenGrimms_Thing 15 years ago

Whose to say that the stealing of the canoes wouldn't have had the cajuns on their trails anyway, I know I'd be mighty P.O'd,

[–] deadringer22000 15 years ago

Stucky I wonder how he even got into the NG
but on a larger level probably Poole because he had no control over his troops, his chain of command sucked(Reese, Casper, and Bowden were all his higher ranks??? Wonder how that happened) and he immediately treated Hardin as an outsider.
Reese was a bit of a loose cannon, but he was the 1st to realize what the situation was and he was right about the Cajun.

[–] Howlin Wolf 14 years ago

Obviously Stuckey, as far as I'm concerned.

Love United. Hate Glazers.

[–] oki9Sedo 14 years ago

@Sonatine97:

Very tough call. Stuckey starting the whole thing in the first place, Bowden destroying their window of opportunity to survive the debacle by inadvertently blowing up their supplies, and Casper making stupid decisions which nobody could do anything about due to his seniority. Too hard to call.

I don't think Reese was nearly as bad though. He refused to give his bullets, but there is a difference between refusing to help and causing harm. And he tortured the Cajun for their benefit, misguided and wrong though that was. Indeed the Cajun very possibly would have talked if he hadn't been stopped.

Also, he may have wanted to take the boats without permission but wouldn't have done so without Poole's consent, which he gave. The buck stops there. Similarly Poole could have stopped him cutting those Cajun nets in the river, but didn't.

If at first you don't succeed, you're not Chuck Norris

[–] mungreluk 13 years ago

This is a difficult one to answer, and I think the characters were brilliantly created to make us ask questions like this one (Which one was the worst, or biggest liability ?)

They did all have their own faults, some were deliberate and some were accidental, but this all added to the struggles that the team had to face.

As for the one who I was most disappointed to see get killed, was his name Simms ? (he got shot immediately after Casper, saying he didnt do anything wrong and shouldnt have been there etc..).

[–] Katz5 12 years ago

I remember Roger Ebert's review saying Spencer (Keith Carradine) was the only "balanced" member of the men.

Poole was a poor leader
Reese was a psychopath
Stucky was a dumb yahoo redneck who only looked up to the psychopath
Bowden was some sort of radical Christian whack job
Casper was useless as a leader, with a giant ego to boot
Cribbs was a drug dealer
Simms seemed more balanced than the others, until he slugs the Cajun
Hardin most definitely had a superiority complex - he even explains it at the beginning of the film to Spencer.

A bit off topic but has anyone seen "The Player?" Brion James (the trapper) and Fred Ward (Reese) reunited in much friendlier circumstances.

Of course there's something wrong with him. He's a NEEE-GRO.

[–] mungreluk 12 years ago

Going with the off topic stuff Katz, did you know the actor Brion James is no longer with us.

I only found out about this recently when reading up on this film on IMDB.

[–] Katz5 12 years ago

Yeah, he died about 10 years ago, I think. A great character actor.

Of course there's something wrong with him. He's a NEEE-GRO.

[–] Milkdoesabodygood 10 years ago

The 3rd amedment applies here which failed so the locals switched to the 2nd admendment against an abusive govt!

Spoiler alert for them spoil sports out there! Y'all like spoiled milk, stop crying over it!

[–] stevekaczynski 8 years ago

Stuckey I would say, but Poole was not a competent leader up to the time of his death and as others have noticed, it seemed to be the less competent ones mainly who had rank. All in all not a good unit.

"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."

[–] stevekaczynski 8 years ago

Casper was out of his depth although he at least seemed to realise it. He wanted to go by the book but in their situation there was no book.

"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."