A bunch of pictures are opening today, most of them likely to be overshadowed by that Shia-Le-Bouef-jumping-out-of-a-building-when-he’s-told thingie, so I wanted to do what little I could by encouraging you not to let The Lucky Ones, a story of three Iraq war soldiers’ eventful return home, pass you by. I am not an entirely objective observer—a couple of the film’s producers are good friends, and writer/director Neil Burger is a friendly acquaintance—but I do think the film is a lovely, engaging piece that’s best appreciated as a road movie/fable, because that’s really what it is. As has been chronicled in The New York Times, Lionsgate, thoroughly terrified (and I must say with substantial justification) of putting out a film in which the word “Iraq” is even mentioned, given the dismal box-office results of the likes of Grace in Gone, Redacted, Rendition, et. al., sat on the film for some time. But politics is not this picture’s bag; to the extent that it’s possible to make a non-ideological work (and I know that universities across the globe teem with postmodernists who insist that it’s not), I think Neil has. Instead, it’s a study of characters, and the vicissitudes of fate; although it doesn’t have quite as prominent a twist in its tail as Neil’s previous films, The Illusionist and Interview With The Assassin, did, its story is quite cleverly shaped, and the performance are wonderful. Tim Robbins is stolid and understated as a smart, by-the-book guy who discovers that doing the right thing doesn’t always pay off in the way you might presume; Rachel McAdams is wonderfully disarming as a seemingly cocky soldier still trying to find his her center. Michael Pena, who’s never made too much of an impression on me before, is funny and moving as a fellow distraught at what his recent war wound will do to his love life.
This release is so under-the-radar that I haven’t even encountered complaints from the ranks of right-wing bloggers who regularly condemn films they haven’t seen. Thing is, I think a lot of such folks might actually like it. As might you. It’s the kind of intelligent and entertaining mainstream filmmaking that’s increasingly rare these days.
“Rachel McAdams is wonderfully disarming as a seemingly cocky soldier still trying to find his center”
That’s the twist: she’s a he?
@Bill C
Yeah, this started out as a remake of “The Crying Game” but the script was revised heavily during pre-production.
Very funny, fellas. Hey, it was a typo—Bill C caught it before I did. Oh, the perils of the blogosphere…
Actually, Kyle Smith and John Nolte have been bangin’ the drum, but otherwise…
I can’t find anything by John, but Kyle Smith’s notice is positively bizarre. And ill-informed. I know, I shouldn’t be surprised…
Oh yeah; John’s white whale this week is Towelhead.
I just saw a trailer for this the other night and was impressed. I have a BS radar that tends to go off with indie films, films about Iraq, and any combination thereof. Though it looked a little over-the-top (they encounter a twister along the way?) I liked that it painted its Iraq vets as regular people, running the gamut. The longer the war goes on, and the more people I know who are going/have been there, the more it registers that a whole lot of different types serve in the military and in war. Both left and right seem to oversimplify matters…I hope this film doesn’t.
By the way, Glenn – & others – I have made a huge list of everyone who participated in my “12 movies you’ve never seen” blog, and the movies they suggested. You can check it out here:
http://thedancingimage.blogspot.com/2008/09/finding-holy-grail.html
The Lucky Ones is 34% at Rotten Tomatoes. Ouch. I think I’ll pass…
Wait, wait, Dirty Harry’s reviewed it: http://dirtyharrysplace.com/?p=4786
“One of the benefits of the 100% flop rate of these left-wing flickers is the joy and comfort of having an entire movie theatre to myself. A rare treat indeed, and one enjoyed at my Lucky Ones screening. So I just want to take a moment to once again thank Hollywood for dumping millions of dollars in order make this special privilege possible.
The Lucky Ones is most certainly an anti-Iraq war film — though subtler in that respect than its dozen or so predecessors – but beyond that it’s simply a failure of a movie. A contrived road flick with forced comedic and emotional moments where the characters fail to resonate either with each other or the audience.
One thing that is interesting about The Lucky Ones is that it proves just how over-stuffed the anti-Iraq genre’s become. We’re now on our second one starring the bland Michael Pena (he was similarly bland in last year’s Lions For Lambs ) and our second one to lazily rely on the road trip boilerplate (the first was the execrable Grace is Gone)…
…And I’m here all day for those of you interested in debating how Hollywood’s money-driven.”
And yet, he supports the free market.