Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016)

Genres

Drama | War

Director

Ang Lee

Countries

USA | UK | China

Cast

Joe Alwyn, Kristen Stewart, Chris Tucker, Garrett Hedlund, Vin Diesel, Steve Martin, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Arturo Castro, Mason Lee, Ben Platt, Deirdre Lovejoy, Tim Blake Nelson, Makenzie Leigh, Beau Knapp

Storyline

19-year-old Billy Lynn (Joe Alwyn) is brought home for a victory tour after a harrowing Iraq battle. Through flashbacks the film shows what really happened to his squad - contrasting the realities of war with America's perceptions.

Opinion

Although "Hulk" was terrible, Ang Lee totally redeemed himself with "The Secrets of Brokeback Mountain" and "Life of Pi", the reasons why I decided to watch "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk", a film that unfortunately doesn't come even close to those two.

Ang Lee though is not the only one to be blamed because he did not write the script, he just tried to make it into a film. The script is indeed dull and sloppy, with a weak story that deals with a pretty interesting concept but never manages to fully engage.

Part of the blame is on Ang Lee as well because the great, creative storytelling of his is completely lacking. The film jumps from a moment to another, almost at random, and surely doesn't get your attention for long. In other words, the film just does not impress on the whole story front.

However, it does addresses an important issues that being the suffering of soldiers once they go back home, and Ang Lee did a quite good job delivering that, and almost make you feel the PTSD. Still this film doesn't break any new ground.

Something I doubt one can complain about is the film's look. It is visually stunning, a feast for the eyes, but I'm not sure this is the kind of genre that needs that.

The cast is another weak link. While Joe Alwyn does a decent job as the title character, without overdoing emotions, the supporting cast doesn't help at all. But it's not the actors' fault, but the writer's, because there isn't much they can do with their undeveloped characters.