Southern Comfort (1981) ***1/2 [Introspective Manly Men Double Feature Pt. 2]

It wasn't really until the last third of Southern Comfort (1981) that it felt to me like more than just a goofier second cousin to Deliverance (1972) (review), another cautionary tale against backwoods fuckery (in this case National Guardsmen vs. Cajuns). That's not to say that the first two-thirds of the movie, where the excellent cast portray a mixture of machismo, boneheadedness, stone cool, and ineptitude—whilst delivering Walter Hill's snappy dialogue—isn't fun and engaging, but there's a tonal shift that occurs in the final act that ratchets up the tension and pushes the film into the arena of greatness.