Casualties of War

Is there a more derivative major filmmaker than Brian De Palma? From "Scarface" to "The Black Dahlia," De Palma's career has consistently been marred by a willingness to purloin elements of other, better directors' style to fit his own films. With the exception of "The Untouchables," every one of De Palma's movies has been an exercise in lazy homages and borderline plagiarism.

Given the director's history, "Casualties of War," De Palma's follow-up to "Untouchables," is something of a surprise. Though it is one of the final films by