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| The actors in Lone Survivor do some heavy lifting to make up for thin characterizations. |
Given the fact that director Peter Berg got Universal to bankroll Lone Survivor by making Battleship
in a “one for me, one for them” deal (as mentioned in my
review of that train wreck), I’m kind of surprised at how
middle-of-the-road a film it turned out to be.
I was expecting something with a bit more bite, something
that was character focused and challenging, but Lone Survivor is
basically a jingoistic love letter to Navy Seals. It’s a lot more Act of
Valor than The Hurt Locker. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but
it’s certainly a disappointing one.
Based on Marcus Luttrell’s book of the same name, Lone
Survivor details how he and three other Seals came across some sheep
herders while on a mission in Afghanistan and, instead of killing them or
leaving them for dead, decided to let them go. This humanistic act compromised
their mission, cost three of them their lives, and led to the death of 16 others
who were attempting to rescue them. Luttrell made it out alive, but only due to
the protection of some brave Pashtun villagers who helped him due to their
traditional belief in Pashtunwali, a code of honor that grants visitors refuge
from enemies.
The film kicks into high-gear right when the foursome comes
across the herders. The debate over how to handle the situation is given proper
weight, and the 40-minute firefight that follows is a truly visceral
experience, an all-time example of battle depiction on film that manages to
capture the harrowing tension and confusion of the moment all the while
maintaining a plausible choreography.
The problem with the film has to do with everything outside
this extended sequence. I’ve often heard critics take issue with Saving
Private Ryan, acknowledging that although it has classic battle scenes at
the beginning and at the end, everything else is sentimental bullshit.
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| More on the concept of Pastunwali would've been welcome given it's importance to Marcus Luttrell's survival. |
A movie like Lone Survivor really illustrates how
ridiculously off base that argument is. Saving Private Ryan does indulge
in some ill-advised schmaltz with its graveyard denouement, but it also has a
script that works to tangibly develop its soldiers into believable people.
Lone Survivor does not. Its setup is all cookie
cutter, with most of the early screen time dedicated to scatter-shot rah rah
initiation rituals in lieu of authentic character moments. That’s
understandable given the fact that the film wants to honor all the men who
sacrificed their lives, but such an approach ultimately leaves things feeling
half-baked.
The film also would've benefited from devoting more time to
the concept of Pastunwali, which is really only highlighted by a sentence or
two at the end of the movie. We never see Luttrell’s discovery of why these
people helped him, an odd decision given the intriguing circuitry to the fact
that his salvation was brought about by the same type of stick-your-neck-out
compassion that caused the death of his fellow soldiers.
Although their roles are thinly written, a special note has
to be made of the central quartet of actors. Mark Wahlberg anchors the film
nicely as Luttrell, and he really sells the desperate confusion during the
Pashtun village scenes. Meanwhile, Emile Hirsch, Taylor Kitsch and especially
Ben Foster do a great job with what they’re given here, implying all sorts of humanity that’s simply not on the page.
