A young soldier and his squad return home for a victory tour after
​becoming national heroes, but are still affected by the horrors of war.

DRAMA/WAR

Billy Lynn's Long
​​​​Halftime Walk (2016)

Directed by Ang Lee

Written by Jean-Christophe Castelli

Starring Joe Alwyn, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Chris Tucker, Steve Martin, Vin Diesel, Makenzie Leigh, ​Arturo Castro, Mason Lee, Astro, Beau Knapp, Barney Harris, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Ben Platt

​Based on the novel by Ben Fountain

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Connor Eyzaguirre

May 21, 2017

8/10

I read Ben Fountain's novel during my sophomore year of college, and I was surprised at how it dealt with the harsh realities of war. When it was announced that Ang Lee was adapting the novel to film, I was anxious to see how this contrast would work in a film setting. Remarkably, the film was critically panned across the board for reasons I can't understand. Not only does this film adapt the novel almost perfectly, but it maintains that all-important differing element that uses the War in Iraq almost as a character itself. The film is intense, dramatic, and heartbreaking, mostly because of its well-chosen cast of actors who don't usually do dramatic work.

The film follows Billy Lynn, a 19-year-old soldier who was become a national hero after his attempt to save his squad's sergeant was captured on film. To celebrate his squad's victory, they are sent home for several days to partake in the halftime show. From here, we get to see how the people of America perceive the war. This film does a phenomenal job reminding us that the war is not some faraway desert conflict that's out of sight and out of mind, nor is it fodder for war movies. It's peoples' lives in constant battle. It transforms the fighting soldiers into new men and women. Through Billy Lynn's eyes, we see how something they're being celebrated for continues to haunt them considerably. It's a side of war most films never think to show.

While every war movie proclaims that war is hell, very few actually go the extra mile to show what it actually does to people. The characters in Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk are real people. They aren't glamorized, they aren't killing machines. They're just people dealing with a traumatic event in the only way they know how. This film doesn't deserve an ounce of the hate that it's received since it came out. It serves as a lesson to the people at home that you do not know what the soldiers are going through, and that even if you do not support the war, these men and women deserve nothing less than our respect.