FOOF

For those of you that haven't seen "Flags of Our Fathers", I would like to talk about one of the lead actors and the role he plays in the movie. Adam Beach is an Indian Actor (I would say American Indian but he is Canadian) and his portrayal of Ira Hayes. For those of you that have seen Code Talkers about the Navaho Marines in the Pacific that were radio operators and confused the Japanese, Adam played the main "Code Talker" assigned to the Nick Cage character. It didn't take any time for my mind to get around the actor's portrayal of Ira Hayes. He was a Marine, assigned to do what Marine's do.
The main point I want to make about Adam Beach is that as an actor he can fit in many roles and like the actor he is, you don't see him, but the character he plays. Lets face it, Clint Eastwood and John Wayne were themselves and played in movies. Adam became the characters he portrayed in the two movies I have seen him in. As a recovered drunk (Alcoholics go to meetings) I really felt a bond with the Ira Hayes character. It is very easy to feel bad and slip inside the bottle to escape. Having escaped that problem I felt bad that such a fine Marine died without escaping that situation. To survive the war and die in a drunken pile of humanity was a waste. Adam Beach is the fine actor that took you there to The Battles of Iwo Jima and as Ira died as just another drunk Indian. I can't express the sadness I felt as his body was viewed by the kids that found him. The finest thing you can say about an actor is he became the part. If nothing else, go see Flags of our Fathers (FOOF) to see this fine actor, Adam Beach, become Ira Hayes.
MUD