A story of two unlikely boyhood friends, the confident and popular Al and Birdy, awkward, withdrawn, and obsessed with birds. The advent of the war in Vietnam shatters their youth, and they and they both return irrevocably changed—one physically traumatized, the other emotionally fractured.

Alan Parker’s diverse filmography ranges from harrowing drama’s (Midnight Express) to musicals (Pink Floyd: The Wall). Amidst these extremes lies this nuanced portrait of friendship and life with PTSD. Nicolas Cage and Matthew Modine color this splendid film with immense personality and emotion.