If you watch the trailer, you've got the movie.

A less than manly-man brother follows his manly-men brothers into the Iraq war zone. The limp brother, Jake, gets credit for putting himself in danger and having the nerve to go where the story is. His film gets credit for being a real look into the daily life of soldiers on the ground.

The film captures some riveting real-life footage of the Iraq War, all caught first-person. It also provides a portrait of how war impacts the soldiers and their families. Still, it is lacking.

If you have ever talked to a vet about war, provided you're not a vet yourself, you probably have noted a chasm between them and you. The distance of being changed by an experience and hearing about it huge. This film never navigates that chasm. .

The best I can say about the film is that it does manage to avoid being overtly political, which is saying something considering this is about the Iraq War.

Many will, at the least, find the film interesting in a voyeuristic way. The average Joe, in particular with a leftist press, doesn't get this view often of our soldiers. This said, I don't think the audience takes much away from the movie if they already understand the concept that war pretty much sucks.



Related Reviews:
Documentaries
Voices of Iraq (2004)
King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)


Other Critic’s Reviews:
PopMatters
Roger Ebert





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Labels: documentary, film, Iraq War, movie review, war