CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS! Despite anything you may have read in any review..watch this film for yourself. It's worth it.
First off it's beautifully filmed. You would never guess it had such low budget. Well thought out shots and camera angles. Excellent use of close ups of everyone. Their faces tell the story.
It's not entirely about war but about unprepared young men being blind-sided by being drafted unexpectedly into a war they are unsure of. Even Jon Bernthal's seemingly gung ho character isn't as sure of what he wants as he first appears. He has too much heart and love for other people. He's a genuinely good guy. What will fighting in a real war and seeing it's horrifying atrocities do to his kind soul? He might fight and survive but he won't come back the same man. He may have a load of guilt that he will never be able to shake. Ideals shattered. Nobility in shreds. His is the most clearly exposed character and has the most screen time. He's very good. A new DiNero.
Chris Kline also was good and understated but you can see everything he feels and how torn he his. To leave his cancer survivor wife that he loves dearly. To abandon his career as a successful lawyer. To fight in a war he does not believe is right. Or submit to a draft he believes deprives people of their civil rights and due process of law. A solid quiet and painful portrayal.
Then of course Aaron..Elijah. Poor sad outcast Aaron. A person who cannot even be his own friend. A person self-isolated and despite some interesting life-experiences (the post grad trip to Malaysia) sadly naive. He is locked within his own self-destructive psyche. If he doesn't love and respect himself how can anyone else? Still he has strong bonds with Bernthal and Kline. They get him. They might tease him but they understand him and they are his friends and the only ones who care about him. Elijah is very good. He shows Aaron's pathetic shock at having his fragile life invaded by that draft notice. He is completely unprepared for any kind of combat. Why he never considers getting a psych discharge is surprising. He would have easily gotten one. I knew a guy almost just like him back during Vietnam who was so emotionally wrecked that although he braved two weeks of boot camp he disintegrated so badly the army gladly sent him right home. The army would have done the same for Aaron, I'm sure! But the poor thing never sees this. Making us wonder if he truly sees himself clearly at all. He does have talent as a writer. Something perfectly suited for his loner psychological make-up. He was NOT a fraud as he thought. He took a folk tale and enlarged on it for his book. Last time I looked that wasn't a crime. Authors take such things as inspiration all the time. It was not fraud. Aaron never sees his strengths. He just loathes himself and then when it seems Dixon is disgusted with him after that mis-adventure with the pimp, he really starts to come apart.
The head-shaving is a brilliant dissolving into psychosis scene. His hair really was buzzed off and he still stayed 100% in character. That is enormous credit to his professionalism.
When he calls his sister and she just blows him off it is the final break for him. He can't see that his friends care. That they would help him if he would let them. He is lost within his own madness. He cannot see beyond it. His final decision is so sad because he feels he is vindicating himself and freeing himself. That last smile of his, his only real smile in the movie, is chilling. And for anyone who has ever been there and felt anything like that it resonates deeply.
I love how he found this character and made him different from anyone else he has played. His Depp-titude is becoming more and more apparent. The little nervous tick of his cheek. The not-quite smiles. His ineptness around women. ( Best line..."Maybe later." ) His descent into madness. Elijah has talent in spades.
The supporting cast is all very good too. I love the young blonde girl,Sofia Vassilieva, who loves Dixon. She just breaks my heart. An actress to watch, I'm sure we'll see lots more of her. His older girlfriend,Elisabeth Moss, is good, too. Ginnifer Goodwin is pretty good but perhaps not quite the best.
All this comes down to why this wonderful, intelligent film got the cold shoulder. Well of course it's never been PC to even appear anti-war. But the thing is that's not really what this movie is about. It's about how war effects different types of people and how they deal with it. It doesn't tell you what to do it just makes you think what you MIGHT do in the same situation.
It's a good film that deserves a wide audience. I hope very much it picks up on DVD and TV the interest it should have.
First off it's beautifully filmed. You would never guess it had such low budget. Well thought out shots and camera angles. Excellent use of close ups of everyone. Their faces tell the story.
It's not entirely about war but about unprepared young men being blind-sided by being drafted unexpectedly into a war they are unsure of. Even Jon Bernthal's seemingly gung ho character isn't as sure of what he wants as he first appears. He has too much heart and love for other people. He's a genuinely good guy. What will fighting in a real war and seeing it's horrifying atrocities do to his kind soul? He might fight and survive but he won't come back the same man. He may have a load of guilt that he will never be able to shake. Ideals shattered. Nobility in shreds. His is the most clearly exposed character and has the most screen time. He's very good. A new DiNero.
Chris Kline also was good and understated but you can see everything he feels and how torn he his. To leave his cancer survivor wife that he loves dearly. To abandon his career as a successful lawyer. To fight in a war he does not believe is right. Or submit to a draft he believes deprives people of their civil rights and due process of law. A solid quiet and painful portrayal.
Then of course Aaron..Elijah. Poor sad outcast Aaron. A person who cannot even be his own friend. A person self-isolated and despite some interesting life-experiences (the post grad trip to Malaysia) sadly naive. He is locked within his own self-destructive psyche. If he doesn't love and respect himself how can anyone else? Still he has strong bonds with Bernthal and Kline. They get him. They might tease him but they understand him and they are his friends and the only ones who care about him. Elijah is very good. He shows Aaron's pathetic shock at having his fragile life invaded by that draft notice. He is completely unprepared for any kind of combat. Why he never considers getting a psych discharge is surprising. He would have easily gotten one. I knew a guy almost just like him back during Vietnam who was so emotionally wrecked that although he braved two weeks of boot camp he disintegrated so badly the army gladly sent him right home. The army would have done the same for Aaron, I'm sure! But the poor thing never sees this. Making us wonder if he truly sees himself clearly at all. He does have talent as a writer. Something perfectly suited for his loner psychological make-up. He was NOT a fraud as he thought. He took a folk tale and enlarged on it for his book. Last time I looked that wasn't a crime. Authors take such things as inspiration all the time. It was not fraud. Aaron never sees his strengths. He just loathes himself and then when it seems Dixon is disgusted with him after that mis-adventure with the pimp, he really starts to come apart.
The head-shaving is a brilliant dissolving into psychosis scene. His hair really was buzzed off and he still stayed 100% in character. That is enormous credit to his professionalism.
When he calls his sister and she just blows him off it is the final break for him. He can't see that his friends care. That they would help him if he would let them. He is lost within his own madness. He cannot see beyond it. His final decision is so sad because he feels he is vindicating himself and freeing himself. That last smile of his, his only real smile in the movie, is chilling. And for anyone who has ever been there and felt anything like that it resonates deeply.
I love how he found this character and made him different from anyone else he has played. His Depp-titude is becoming more and more apparent. The little nervous tick of his cheek. The not-quite smiles. His ineptness around women. ( Best line..."Maybe later." ) His descent into madness. Elijah has talent in spades.
The supporting cast is all very good too. I love the young blonde girl,Sofia Vassilieva, who loves Dixon. She just breaks my heart. An actress to watch, I'm sure we'll see lots more of her. His older girlfriend,Elisabeth Moss, is good, too. Ginnifer Goodwin is pretty good but perhaps not quite the best.
All this comes down to why this wonderful, intelligent film got the cold shoulder. Well of course it's never been PC to even appear anti-war. But the thing is that's not really what this movie is about. It's about how war effects different types of people and how they deal with it. It doesn't tell you what to do it just makes you think what you MIGHT do in the same situation.
It's a good film that deserves a wide audience. I hope very much it picks up on DVD and TV the interest it should have.