★ 7 / 10
**Game, music, celebration, romance, emotion, family, friends and
Reno
**Game, music, celebration, romance, emotion, family, friends and the war!** After giving the career best, the director Ang Lee returned with this which is…
**Game, music, celebration, romance, emotion, family, friends and the war!**
After giving the career best, the director Ang Lee returned with this which is quite a long gap for him between the films. He has fallen back to the average, like usual whenever he gives a masterpiece. Most directors do that. This film was adapted from the book of the same name. It was not a full fledged war film. It has soldiers, but one day event theme where they are on the short break to homeland to participate in the felicitation programme for their victory.
The story closely focused on the young soldier, Billy, Lynn. He was the centre of the event, a war hero. During his stay, he recalls the original event. What really happened and what else he could have done. Apart from that, enjoying the day with a game from the stadium, dance, musics and many more. Meeting family has a sub-plot that reveals about his choice to join the army. Overall, a memorable day with happy and sad incidents.
So my first thought in the initial stage was like it is another film similar to the 2009's 'The Messenger'. No, it was not. It was completely different than anything I've seen so far. Refreshing, but not captivating. If you are okay with simple, yet want a feel strong, this is it. It is kind of like mixed result film. Great casting and strong performances. Wonderful debute for the lead actor.
On the other side, mix of colourful, full of music, emotional, romantic, thrilling presentation. A bit Americanised, like the film events and the patriotism. So, a much better suitable film for the domestic audience than the rest of the world, perhaps excluding western world. Even though, watching it once is no harm or not bad.
_7/10_
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★ 5 / 10
Ang Lee wrings some thought-provoking ideas and visual compulsion, but they are not enough to compete with its lack of emotional touch
Screen_Blitz
The politics of war are incredibly complex, and the human cost is disturbingly high. There are no wonder why those who give up their lives to fight oversea are…
The politics of war are incredibly complex, and the human cost is disturbingly high. There are no wonder why those who give up their lives to fight oversea are honored with great dignity. But the big question in this war drama directed by Oscar Winner Ang Lee is: Are we honoring these soldiers the right way? That is an idea that this film takes a dive in, but not with enough impact. Lee's approach to the absorbing topic is too shallow of emotional touch. The greatest accolade Lee acquires in this picture is allowing it to shine with a unique visual innovation, and that is shooting the film with an unheard-of frame rate of 120 FPS to capture the immense atmosphere of the war sequences. It is a technological achievement that powerfully shows how far Hollywood has advanced in technological. Seeing this movie at a theater with an unusual frame rate that high is an alarmingly tough get as there are only six theaters around the globe that include this, with only two of these theaters planted in the United States. Set in 2004, this follows 19-year old Billy Lynn (played by Joe Alwyn), an Army specialist returning home from active duty in Iraq with his fellow squad members. On the day of a Thanksgiving home game at the Dallas Cowboys stadium, Billy, honored as a hero for his duty, and his squad members are brought together on a victory tour during the halftime show. During the tour, Billy is hit with flashbacks of the tragedies that occurred during the battle in Iraq including the death of his friend Staff Sergeant Shroom (played by Vin Diesel) as opposed to the American citizens fantasized perceptions of what they think happened over there. Along the way, he finds his heroism manipulated by film producers Norm (played by Steve Martin) and Albert (played by Chris Tucker) who are trying to land a movie deal out of the events that squadron's faced.
Based on the novel by Ben Fountain, this drama capitalizes on themes of patriotism and honor, and opens light on social issues that run between the grim realities of war and the distorted views of active combat by citizens back at home. The primary concern here deals with home civilians including the media exploiting the heroism soldiers acquire during active duty overseas, simply for our own personal gain. As disconcerting as it is, one thing this film proves is that unless you have been in active combat, you have little or no idea of what it is realistically feels like being in active combat overseas. Director Ang Lee makes an engaging point out of this concept. But alongside, the film also introduces these contradictions on how soldiers are celebrated by citizens for their active duty, yet people all over America continue to disdain war as an unnecessary bargain; an idea that the story never fully explores. From there on, the story slips into a jumbled mess and offers little emotional touch to the point where viewers are left with no impact. The film's emotional highpoints stand during the flashbacks of the title character and his squad fighting in Iraq which are powerfully shot and executed in authenticity. It's too bad that these scenes only make up a small portion of the near-two- hour runtime, while the majority the picture follows Billy and his squadron walking through the stadium during the halftime show with Destiny's Child performing and fireworks going off. If this manages to wring anything out of the story's framework other than its absorbing ideas, it is the performances, particularly Joe Alwyn as Billy and Kristen Stewart as his older sister, given the opportunity to flex her acting muscles. The rest of the cast offer some good on screen presences, operating with a sense of cynicism and humility. Looking for something Oscar- worthy though, you are probably better off looking elsewhere.
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is a shallow war drama that fails to arrest viewers with its timely themes and Ang Lee's scattershot approach to an otherwise thoughtful examination of its eponymous character versus America's fantasized perceptions of war. Although the final product is disappointingly forgettable, some may admire Ang Lee's effort on embracing the film with his visual innovation. However, its a technological effort that is too early to introduce in major theaters at this point.
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