Movies: Lone Survivor

Score:  **** (A-) out of *****

Long Story Short:  Lone Survivor is about Operation Red Wings, a Navy SEAL mission in Afghanistan in 2005, as described by one of those SEALs, Marcus Luttrell.  The film pursues the middle ground in the war genre, between realism (slanted this direction) and Hollywood drama.  It largely succeeds in this mission.  While the SEALs aren't fleshed out in great detail, the action is riveting, realistic, and appropriately but not simplistically patriotic.  One of the best war films in years.


Now for the first review of a 2014 film (note:  I actually wrote this on January 18, but wanted to post my 2013 year-in-reviews first - see also my review of Her).  After skimming through a few lists of most anticipated films of the year, I'm a little underwhelmed to start - but often the best films come from the least expected places.  As for Lone Survivor, I heard a few things here and there about an Afghanistan battle re-enactment film coming out the last few months, then read an article about the lone survivor himself, Marcus Luttrell.  Intrigued by these, and encouraged by a good score on Rotten Tomatoes, I went to see it.  Lone Survivor was directed by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, Hancock) and stars Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, and Ben Foster.

Lone Survivor kicks off with a documentary-like overview of the extremely rigorous Navy SEAL training process.  Then we're taken to Afghanistan, 2005, where we meet a squad (sorry, don't know the official military term) of SEALs.  Most of them have been deployed for some time, are almost as familiar with their surroundings as they are with each other, and they let the new guys know it.  The team's commander, LCDR Kristensen, receives mission details for four of the SEALS - Lt. Mike Murphy (Kitsch), the ranking officer; SO2 Danny Dietz (Hirsch), engaged to be married; Marcus Luttrell (Wahlberg); and Matthew Axelson (Foster).  Their mission is to get to a small town in rural, mountainous Afghanistan and take out a top Taliban leader there.

As you can tell from the title of the film, not all goes as planned.  The team is forced to make a difficult, crucial decision early on and the SEALs soon find themselves isolated on a treacherous mountainside, surrounded by foes.  While brutal, relentless violence commences, mercy and humanity still have a huge role to play before the story is over.

The four SEALs of Operation Red Wings form the core of Lone Survivor's cast.  Mark Wahlberg takes the part of Marcus Luttrell.  As I've said before, Wahlberg is one of my least favorite actors, but I have to give him credit here for doing a decent job, one of his best performances I've seen.  His role gets bigger as the movie goes along, as you might imagine, and Wahlberg above all is convincing as a strong man in physical, mental and emotional distress.  To be honest, Emile Hirsch and Taylor Kitsch looked so similar in their beards that it took me a while to tell them apart.  Both actors also do well - Hirsch's Dietz has the only real backstory (his engagement), while Kitsch is the leader of the group.  Foster has the smallest role; as tough as he was in 3:10 to Yuma, it makes sense that he'd do well in this type of role, too.  A few notable supporting roles include Eric Bana, a good fit as the SEAL squad commander; Yousuf Azami, playing the fearsome Taliban leader; and Ali Suliman as an Afghan whose role I will not spoil if you haven't seen the film yet.  Overall, a strong cast; maybe nothing Oscar-caliber, but there aren't any weak links, either.

Lone Survivor is a brutal, realistic-seeming re-enactment of a true story - also one that respects the roles of all those involved, and adds a little Hollywood flourish sprinkled in as well.  What hit me first, without showing off about it, was how authentic all the details felt.  Yes, there's the battle which I'll get to, but also everything from the banter of the SEALs at the beginning - while they spoke English, the jargon used made it difficult to understand for a civilian, apart from their tone and body language - to the beautiful yet harsh landscape (if they used any green-screen, I sure couldn't tell), to the equipment, and so on.  The main battle - which must last 30 minutes, although it's hard to tell because you're gripping your chair so tightly - is harrowing and, again, seemingly realistic, yet also filmed in a way that is much easier to follow than other similar movie sequences.  You definitely get the message that these guys are elite warriors, using strength, speed, training, intelligence, high-tech gear - and, yes, a little Hollywood exaggeration - but while there's some feeling of hope to start, there's also a growing sense of doom as the battle goes along.  The Taliban may not be as strong, well-trained or well-armed, but they had the numbers and knowledge of the terrain.  The ending was of the type easily botched by many Hollywood films, but to everyone's credit (director, writer, actors, etc.), it holds up just fine.

***

As with many film genres, war movies are tricky to make so that they both appeal to a mass audience and hold together.  There are some that go more for the ultra-realistic take, popular appeal be damned, and are good, like Black Hawk Down.  Then those that go the "Hollwood-ized" route, some good (The Patriot), some not so good (We Were Soldiers).  Some dare for a balance, and Saving Private Ryan is the gold standard here.  Lone Survivor is more grim and at times realistic than SPR, but it still achieves a similar kind of success.  It isn't right - or particularly accurate - to say LS is entertaining, but it is riveting and watchable for a pretty large audience (plenty of violence, yes, but the gore is kept to a reasonable level).  We don't get to know the characters all that well, which keeps it from an "A" score (something SPR did brilliantly, plus Tom Hanks >>>>>>> Mark Wahlberg).  On the other hand, Lone Survivor is a nice tribute to the Afghanistan conflict overall, showing the bravery and good intentions (if not always results) of American forces and the complexity and wide range of reactions to the occupying force by the Afghans.  One of the best war films I've seen, and highly recommended.