by John P. Meyer

Deciding whether to live or die should be done with a clear head -- in most cases.

Ryan Piers Williams grew up in El Paso, decided he wanted to get into filmmaking, and went off to attend the School of the Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California.

Williams' first feature film (which he both wrote and directed) is called The Dry Land, and its subject matter is so depressing, you could write a country & western song about it. Our protagonist doesn't run over his dog with the pickup truck, but that's about it for the bright side of things.

James (Ryan O'Nan) has just returned from the war in Iraq. He seems fine at first, settling back into the double-wide in the high, wide desert southwest with his sweet wife, Sarah (America Ferrera, who also executive produced). But at a celebratory get-together attended by family and friends, something odd emerges -- he can't remember whether he killed anyone. (It's a question asked of him directly by both his brother-in-law, and his young nephew.)

James takes a job at the beef cattle operation run by his wife's Dad (Benito Martinez, as David Valdez). It's a grim place to work -- particularly the kill house, to which James is assigned right off the bat. (NOTE that this brutal sequence may prove particularly dangerous to omnivores on the fence about removing animal products from their diet. Because it could just push them right on over to the vegan side...)

The fabulous Melissa Leo plays James' mom, Martha, who's slowly (and then rapidly) dying of emphysema. 'Course, she still craves a smoke.

James' post-traumatic stress disorder reaches full-blown symptomatic flowering on a morning when he wakes from night terrors in the process of putting Sarah in a choke hold. Later, he shares beers with his buds from work, including his best friend Michael (Jason Ritter) and a guy he doesn't care for very much named Joe (Evan Jones). James and Joe come to serious blows during an impromptu, alcohol-fueled, night-lighting hunting expedition on a dirt back road. Gun butts come into play.

The final straw for Sarah comes when she attempts to interest her traumatized hubby in some sweet, sweet lovemaking and he more or less rapes her up against the bathroom sink. She moves on outta there, heading on back over to Daddy's -- with the help of Michael, who James suspects has been acting as something more than a friend to his wife.

The second half of the film chronicles a cross-country road trip which finds James and his army buddy Raymond (Wilmer Valderrama) cruising and boozing their way toward Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where a buddy of theirs is "recovering" from severe wounds he received during the incident in the war that James can't remember anything about. (Raymond suggests he just continue forgetting about it.)

After a couple of nights on the road -- one of which involves a pair of hookers in a motel room, while the other finds our brothers-in-arms camped out in the woods -- they arrive at Walter Reed and pay their respects to Henry (Diego Klattenhoff). Henry's condition eloquently demonstrates the difference between messed up, and messed the f*** up. The loss of both his legs is only the most obvious of his injuries.

Before James leaves Henry's bedside, he finds out what it was that caused him to forget about his heat-of-battle experience -- and it turns out that Raymond's advice might have been the best prescription.

The story ends with a police standoff back at James' mobile home, and serves to demonstrate that decisions made about living or dying ought to be made while sober. In most cases.

The Dry Land uses beautiful I-25 scenery to good effect throughout the production. It also showcases a sympathetic and affecting lead performance from O'Nan, which ought to garner him plenty of future film offers. Nor can Williams' direction be faulted -- it's clear he has the wherewithal to make intelligent and compelling films.

There are hopeful elements at play in the movie, including the strong and lasting bonds of military comrades; the potentially healing (and annealing) effects of a loving relationship; and the trustworthiness of dogs (Credit Starwind, as Clive). But all things considered, I'm hoping Williams opts for a breezy romantic comedy next time out of the filmmaking chute. For a refreshing change of pace.