A Don Johnson Flashback

The opening sequence of the low-budget but powerful drama “Cease Fire” presents a montage of a baby-faced Don Johnson happily playing soldier in the jungles of Vietnam. When the story shifts to the present, however, it’s an older, world-weary veteran who waits in line for unemployment benefits.

Johnson’s character, Tim, has so suppressed his “in country” years that he can barely discuss them. It is the stress of finding himself a jobless husband and father that brings his long-buried war experiences raging into his everyday life.

He grows short-tempered with his family and suffers nightmares and flashbacks. In one particularly chilling scene, Tim’s frightened son watches him creep through the living room brandishing a kitchen knife and stalking an unseen enemy.

It takes a devastating turn of events to get him to acknowledge the painful episode he’s managed to repress for more than 15 years.

The difference in demeanor between the Vietnam and postwar Tims is striking and a tribute to Johnson’s routinely underrated ability as an actor.

High-profile films about the Vietnam War such as “Coming Home,” “Deer Hunter” and “Apocalypse Now” made their mark in the late ‘70s. Perhaps by the time “Cease Fire” was released in 1985, movie viewers had had their fill of the genre, because the film never found the audience it deserved.

“Cease Fire” was written with much sensitivity by George Fernandez. There is nothing unique about Tim and and his wife, Paula (Lisa Blount). They aren’t especially clever, and their day-to-day lives in a Florida tract house offer little in the way of glamour. But the courage they show in facing their problems makes us sympathize and hope the family will make it through the rough times.

“Cease Fire” (1985), directed by David Nutter. 97 minutes. Rated R.