Comedy about US military postponed

The release of a dark comedy about the American military starring Joaquin Phoenix has been postponed for the fifth time because Miramax Films executives are worried that audiences will find it offensive.

They fear that Buffalo Soldiers, with its depiction of drug-dealing US soldiers in 1989 West Germany, will alienate cinemagoers in today’s pro-military climate.

The film was shown at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and was mainly well-received, although one audience member denounced it and threw a plastic bottle at the director Gregor Jordan, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“I always knew this would be a tough movie to put out,” Jordan tells the newspaper. “It’s an anti-hero story and the subject matter is reasonably controversial. It is supposed to be confrontational but it is not supposed to be offensive.”