BEFORE: My BFF Andy recently compared me to Forrest Gump - and not because I've found myself interacting with famous people, or in the middle of key historical events. You remember that part where he felt like going for a run, and ran from coast to coast, and back again? Hitting a milestone number feels like I reached the coast of California, and now I'm turning around and running back the other way. If I had any sense, I'd suspend the countdown for a few weeks and get some holiday things done.
BUT, apparently I have no sense, because I'm starting the war-film chain. Spy films and war films are essentially different, like the two TV shows "Hoarders" and "Hoarding: Buried Alive", which tackle the same subject - people with compulsive collecting disorders - in different ways. TLC's "H:BA" show seems a little more like "Trading Spaces", with a professional organizer working with the hoarder, and a comparison of how their house looks, before and after the sorting and disposal process. But A&E's "Hoarders" show is more like the same network's "Intervention", with dramatic on-screen text reminding us that this is a show about an unwell person, and after sessions with a therapist or psychiatrist (who specializes in OCD or hoarding behaviors), progress is made - but the show doesn't feel the same need to end on a happy note.
In a similar way, spy films and war films both deal with complex international issues - but the spies are more likely to be the beautiful people, wearing beautiful clothes and seducing other beautiful people, while the soldiers are wearing camo and getting blown up - and there may not be a happy ending.
THE PLOT: Injuries sustained by two Army rangers behind enemy lines set off a sequence of events involving a congressman, a journalist and a professor.
AFTER: This film is sort of similar in structure to "Traffic", where three different sets of scenes are intertwined, and we the viewers have to figure out how the stories are related. We see a professor trying to inspire one of his lazier students, a senator explaining war strategy to a journalist, and two soldiers on an active mission in Afghanistan.
Taken as a whole, it's a portrait of America during wartime, as in right now, at the end (?) of the longest war in our history. Oh, wait I forgot, technically the war is now over, and our presence in the Middle East is not combat-based, but our troops are only there for support. I forget, did we win? The movie lays out the reasoning behind the "Surge" strategy in Iraq/Afghanistan from 2 years ago - remember how the U.S. was going to bring the troops home by sending more soldiers over? That's military reasoning for you - end the war by continuing the war.
There are several complicated issues explored here (and what was that I said about war films being more black and white?) - like, what is the responsibility of a U.S. citizen during wartime? How should one strike a balance between protesting the war, but supporting the troops? When does reporting our military strategy become a form of propaganda? What should our long-term strategy in the Middle East be, or should we even have one?
I found this extremely thought provoking - and well-timed, since it illustrates the type of war that the Condor predicted in last night's film, and it's given me a lot to think about while viewing the films coming up. I should keep in mind that I only get to enjoy the life that I have, sitting around watching movies, due to the sacrifices of others.
Still, 2/3 of this film is very talky-talky - I was thinking it could have been written by Aaron Sorkin, since everything tended to be over-explained, the way they used to talk on "The West Wing".
Also starring Tom Cruise (last seen in "Mission: Impossible III"), Meryl Streep (last seen in "Ironweed"), Michael Peña (last seen in "Observe and Report"), Derek Luke, Peter Berg, and Kevin Dunn (last seen in "Blue Steel").
RATING: 6 out of 10 ammo clips
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