Friday, September 26, 2008

Movie review: The Lucky Ones

By Alex Bentley

Filmmakers have been trying to make films about the current Iraq war for several years now, with varying degrees of success. None of them have come close to capturing the public’s imagination or emotions, which could be chalked up to war fatigue in general or that moviegoers tend to go to the theater to escape, not experience more of what they get in their real life or see on the news.

The Lucky Ones is unlikely to be the film that breaks that trend despite the fact that few actual war scenes make an appearance. Instead, like last year’s In the Valley of Elah, this film concerns itself with how Army soldiers adjust to life back home. Three soldiers -- Cheever (Tim Robbins), TK (Michael Pena), and Colee (Rachel McAdams) -- are home on leave and decide to rent a car to drive cross-country when their respective flights are canceled.

Each has been injured, with TK and Colee on temporary leave with relatively minor wounds, and Cheever securing a discharge after hurting his back. The initial plan for their trip is for Cheever to go home to St. Louis and TK and Colee continuing on to Las Vegas for separate reasons, although those plans turn out to be extremely fluid.

What better setting for an Iraq war-themed movie than ... Las Vegas?

The Lucky Ones is an odd film in that it feels both real and fake at the same time. Much of the characters’ actions don’t give off the “been there, done that” air of a film that’s been overly scripted, but they also never come off as truly authentic. McAdams is often the main source of this paradox, as she imbues Colee with a type of childlike naïveté one doesn’t often see in films, something that at times comes across as a little too honest.

The film doesn’t really contain any grand statements about the war, but its presence is felt throughout. Almost every person the trio runs into during their travels is eager to help them in any way they can. This leads to what could be interpreted as a running joke, with each person, upon receiving a “thank you” from the group, earnestly says, “No, no – thank you.” The closest writer/director Neil Burger (The Illusionist) comes to broaching controversy is when the threesome is confronted at a party by a man who’s against the war. That situation is quickly and calmly defused, though, and they go on their merry way.

"My back's killing me and my life's falling apart, but I'm smiling!"

Each of the three confronts various demons during their journey, but Burger more often than not balances out those lows with accompanying light moments. In that respect, The Lucky Ones comes off as the most feel-good war-related film ever made. None of the three could truly be described as happy, but neither are they so doom and gloom that their situations are unbearable.

However, because the film never really settles on a cohesive theme, the juxtaposition of emotions makes it more schizophrenic than anything else. Consequently, the film, while filmed and acted well, never gives the audience a hook to draw them deeper into the story. While it's encouraging that filmmakers are still trying to engage the public on the fallout from the Iraq war, they have yet to perfect exactly how to tell the story.

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