gekko
08-06-2003, 08:28 PM
NBC picks actress to play Jessica Lynch
LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- NBC has found its Jessica Lynch.
Canadian actress Laura Regan, who starred in last year's horror flick "They," has been tapped to play U.S. Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch in the NBC TV movie "Saving Jessica Lynch."
The story centers on the rescue of the 20-year-old Iraqi prisoner of war who became something of a poster child for the U.S.-led military operation in Iraq.
The ever-changing story of the March 23 capture and April 1 rescue of Lynch, a supply clerk in the 507th Ordnance Maintenance Co., continues to make headlines even after Lynch's return to her home in Palestine, W.Va. last month. Conflicting reports have forced NBC to make updates to the original script for the movie by John Fasano.
Lynch became an instant celebrity and symbol of American heroism in early April when the Washington Post reported on her dramatic rescue from a hospital in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. Equally dramatic was her capture after Iraqi troops ambushed her convoy, with Lynch described as fiercely fighting off the attackers.
Many parts of the initial report have since been discredited, but despite the uncertainty regarding what actually happened to Lynch -- who is now said to have been unconscious at the time of the capture and to remember very little about the ordeal -- NBC stuck with its plan for the movie. The project is scheduled to start production this month for a premiere during the November sweep.
During NBC's portion of the Television Critics Assn.'s summer press tour last month, entertainment president Jeff Zucker called the film a compelling action-adventure story that would come largely from the perspective of Mohammed Odeh Al-Rehaief, the Iraqi lawyer who alerted U.S. military officials to Lynch's whereabouts and has since relocated with his family to the United States.
Regan's credits also include M. Night Shyamalan's "Unbreakable" and "My Little Eye."
// Begin Rant
Well this is great, let's go make a movie to show the American people this great happy-go-lucky war story. Good for you NBC, go make a movie off some BS hollywood story making Jessica Lynch a hero. I mean, don't bother looking at what really happened, because America wants to see Ms. Lynch as a hero. How about instead, you tell the real story? I think they should call it "How to Get Your Dumbass Captured 101."
Let's take a look on why she was captured in the first place. The 507th took a wrong turn, and bumped into these lovely Fedayeen troops. Fedayeen, Republican Gaurd, I don't care how good CNN makes you want to think these guys are, they're good for Iraqi standards, good for arab standards, but they are utter **** compared to the US. Our Army troops should be able to destroy them. So why didn't the 507th? Good question. The 507th outnumbered the Fedayeen gun-for-gun. More guns, better trained soldiers, and they still got their ass handed to them.
See, a slight problem arises when very few of those guns actually fire. Why? They were clogged with dust! Yes, the rifles were not properly maintained for use in a desert enviorment. Good job. 9 soldiers were killed, 5 captured. The rest ran away, led by their Captain. Yes, the officer left his troops behind and took off running. As for Jessica Lynch, the rescue was more or less walking into a building and bringing her unconscious ass out.
13 soldiers are dead. They are dead because they didn't properly maintain their weapons, and when they needed them, they failed. Their Captain ran off like a coward. But you know what? Instead of learning something from this situation to prevent it from happening again, let's turn Jessica Lynch into a real G.I. Jane. Let's tell these great war stories about her, and let's award her a Bronze Star. Let me tell you the story.
Jessica Lynch was part of a unit who took a wrong-turn. When ambushed by Fedayeen troops, her weapon malfunctioned and she couldn't fight because of her injuries, most of which didn't come from the fight, they came from the crash of their vehicle. Then she was captured, and finally carried out nearly unconscious. And for that, she got a Bronze Star. It's an disgrace to all the men who actually earned the Bronze Star for valor. She got it by being captured in a fight they should've won.
But go on NBC, make her into a hero. Tell a false story about her and make her America's poster child from the war. It's a disgrace to the real heroes of the war.
// End Rant
LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) -- NBC has found its Jessica Lynch.
Canadian actress Laura Regan, who starred in last year's horror flick "They," has been tapped to play U.S. Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch in the NBC TV movie "Saving Jessica Lynch."
The story centers on the rescue of the 20-year-old Iraqi prisoner of war who became something of a poster child for the U.S.-led military operation in Iraq.
The ever-changing story of the March 23 capture and April 1 rescue of Lynch, a supply clerk in the 507th Ordnance Maintenance Co., continues to make headlines even after Lynch's return to her home in Palestine, W.Va. last month. Conflicting reports have forced NBC to make updates to the original script for the movie by John Fasano.
Lynch became an instant celebrity and symbol of American heroism in early April when the Washington Post reported on her dramatic rescue from a hospital in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. Equally dramatic was her capture after Iraqi troops ambushed her convoy, with Lynch described as fiercely fighting off the attackers.
Many parts of the initial report have since been discredited, but despite the uncertainty regarding what actually happened to Lynch -- who is now said to have been unconscious at the time of the capture and to remember very little about the ordeal -- NBC stuck with its plan for the movie. The project is scheduled to start production this month for a premiere during the November sweep.
During NBC's portion of the Television Critics Assn.'s summer press tour last month, entertainment president Jeff Zucker called the film a compelling action-adventure story that would come largely from the perspective of Mohammed Odeh Al-Rehaief, the Iraqi lawyer who alerted U.S. military officials to Lynch's whereabouts and has since relocated with his family to the United States.
Regan's credits also include M. Night Shyamalan's "Unbreakable" and "My Little Eye."
// Begin Rant
Well this is great, let's go make a movie to show the American people this great happy-go-lucky war story. Good for you NBC, go make a movie off some BS hollywood story making Jessica Lynch a hero. I mean, don't bother looking at what really happened, because America wants to see Ms. Lynch as a hero. How about instead, you tell the real story? I think they should call it "How to Get Your Dumbass Captured 101."
Let's take a look on why she was captured in the first place. The 507th took a wrong turn, and bumped into these lovely Fedayeen troops. Fedayeen, Republican Gaurd, I don't care how good CNN makes you want to think these guys are, they're good for Iraqi standards, good for arab standards, but they are utter **** compared to the US. Our Army troops should be able to destroy them. So why didn't the 507th? Good question. The 507th outnumbered the Fedayeen gun-for-gun. More guns, better trained soldiers, and they still got their ass handed to them.
See, a slight problem arises when very few of those guns actually fire. Why? They were clogged with dust! Yes, the rifles were not properly maintained for use in a desert enviorment. Good job. 9 soldiers were killed, 5 captured. The rest ran away, led by their Captain. Yes, the officer left his troops behind and took off running. As for Jessica Lynch, the rescue was more or less walking into a building and bringing her unconscious ass out.
13 soldiers are dead. They are dead because they didn't properly maintain their weapons, and when they needed them, they failed. Their Captain ran off like a coward. But you know what? Instead of learning something from this situation to prevent it from happening again, let's turn Jessica Lynch into a real G.I. Jane. Let's tell these great war stories about her, and let's award her a Bronze Star. Let me tell you the story.
Jessica Lynch was part of a unit who took a wrong-turn. When ambushed by Fedayeen troops, her weapon malfunctioned and she couldn't fight because of her injuries, most of which didn't come from the fight, they came from the crash of their vehicle. Then she was captured, and finally carried out nearly unconscious. And for that, she got a Bronze Star. It's an disgrace to all the men who actually earned the Bronze Star for valor. She got it by being captured in a fight they should've won.
But go on NBC, make her into a hero. Tell a false story about her and make her America's poster child from the war. It's a disgrace to the real heroes of the war.
// End Rant