Film Review: An Unlikely Weapon: The Eddie Adams Story

Title:               An Unlikely Weapon
Director:             Susan Morgan Cooper
Producer:           Cindy Lou Adkins, Susan Morgan Cooper
Screenwriter:    Susan Morgan Cooper, Isaac Hagy
Cinema:               Isaac Hagy
Editor:                  Isaac Hagy
Music:                   Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens, Robin Turner
Sound:                  Luke Gibson, Bret Johns, Mark P. Stoeckinger
Year:                     2008 (104 minutes)

Synopsis: Eddie Adams photographed 13 wars, six American Presidents, and every major film star of the last 50 years. History would be changed through his lens. But the person Eddie found hardest to impress was himself. In 1968, in 1/500^th of a second Eddie Adams photographed a Saigon police chief, General Nygoc Loan, shooting a Vietcong guerilla point blank. Some say that photograph ended the Vietnam War. The photo brought Eddie fame and a Pulitzer, but he was haunted by the man he had vilified. He would say, “Two lives were destroyed that day, the victim’s and the general’s.” Others would say three lives were destroyed. Featuring narration by Keifer Sutherland and a score by Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens (Letters from Iwo Jima).

Review: Have you ever heard of Eddie Adams? Before the film, I hadn’t. But I was certainly familiar with his most famous work; a photo of Saigon police chief General Nygoc Loan shooting a Vietcong guerilla point blank in the head. It is the photograph that has become almost obligatory in any work about the war in Vietnam.

But even more than a photographer, Eddie Adams was an eyewitness to history. An Unlikely Weapon chronicles Eddie’s life and the famous and infamous people he and his camera encountered. Eddie’s photographs and his perspective had a profound impact on the collective psyche of the nation. Beginning in the 1960’s with his war photos and continuing into the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s with his photos of celebrities and political luminaries, Eddie’s camera became an eye on the world.

Director Susan Morgan Cooper crafted an excellent film that was equal parts history and biography. She made great use of archival photos, both Eddie’s and others. An Unlikely Weapon is a very enjoyable film that I highly recommend.

(4.0 out of 5.0)