This film opens September 26th, 2008. It was co-written and directed by Neil Burger, who was responsible for the under-appreciated The Illusionist.Three soldiers (Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins and Michael Pena) return from Iraq to try to move forward with their lives. Immediately after landing at JFK, everything seems to go wrong for them. Michael Pena's character (who was wounded in the 'private parts') plans to get to Vegas to find a professional to cure him of his sexual problem. Rachel McAdams, estranged from her family, decides to go to Vegas to give a guitar to a fallen soldier's family. She hopes that the family will then take her in.
Worse, Tim Robbins comes home to a wife that wants a divorce and a Son that needs tens of thousands of dollars to attend Stanford. Somehow this became a big deal; why couldn't the kid just take out a loan, like most students?!?!
Anyways, the film doesn't exactly work for a number of reasons. Most of them have to do with the odd number of coincidences that occur, and the strange situations that the characters are placed in. Not to give anything away, but I was kind of indifferent towards the picture until the scene with the tornado. Seriously, there's a tornado. That scene ruined the rest of the movie.
Rachel McAdams is kind of iffy with her accent, and Tim Robbins doesn't really do much. Michael Pena gives the strongest performance, actually showing some depth to his character.
All in all, the subject matter, the re-adjustment of soldiers to civilian life, is something serious and deserves better treatment and inquiry.
No comments:
Post a Comment