If there's one thing obvious about Peter Berg it's that he has the utmost
respect for our servicemen and women, and even in the ridiculous flop
Battleship you can tell he wants to do them proper justice. While there's a
certain over-the-top patriotism present in most movies about the military, Berg
has found it difficult to blend with his Hollywood "shock and awe"
style of filmmaking. The true story behind
Lone Survivor is one of heroism,
brotherhood, and sacrifice, and the film is undoubtedly a visceral powerhouse
of raw emotion captured in full glory. Berg can't let that be enough, though,
and his tendency to "blockbuster-ize" everything saps some of the
inherent drama of a harrowing real-life ordeal.
Unlike the similar but ridiculously cartoonish
Act of Valor,
Lone
Survivor's reverence for Navy SEALs seems sincere, beginning with
documentary-style montage of the extreme conditions each goes through from boot
camp on, a stark reminder that they are meant to be the elite. Those who
survive, and it really is a fight for survival right from the beginning, form a
kinship forged in blood and sweat. Berg takes that idea to heart in his
depictions of Seal Team 10, including Marcus Luttrell (Mark Wahlberg),
Lt. Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny P. Dietz (Emile Hirsch), and Matthew
Axelson (Ben Foster). We're breezed through snapshots of their personal lives;
one is getting married, and his colleagues ruminate confusedly about women and
what it takes to keep them happy. Murphy's wife wants a really expensive horse
he can't afford, while Luttrell wonders if a hot bridesmaid will be at the
wedding. "She's a bridesmaid", Murphy banters back sharply. An
earnest newbie recruit (Alexander Ludwig) is in the midst of rookie hazing,
while others race around the barracks in an obvious test of manhood. Subtlety
isn't Berg's strength and it evaporates pretty early on.
While their personal lives are sketched pretty thin, it's enough to
establish the camaraderie and clue us in to the machismo pecking order, which
surprisingly doesn't have Wahlberg's character at the top. Instead it's Kitsch
who emerges early on as the muscle and the level-headed one of the group,
leading his men into a doomed mission in Afghanistan to kill Taliban leader
Ahmad Shah. The mission chronicled is Operation Red Wings, detailed in
Luttrell's book
Lone Survivor, and this is one instance where the title
can be taken at face value. And since it's Wahlberg's mug adorning all of the
movie posters, it's safe to say he's the one who'll be walking away from the
upcoming firefight. Right away the mission gets off to a rough start due to the
rocky, mountainous terrain and the poor communications. Early on one of the
four soldiers remarks there are "a lot of moving parts" to what
should be a simple hit-and-run op. Things turn instantly dangerous when locals
stumble upon them, and the men are forced to make a quick decision. Do they
kill the locals and maintain their cover? Or do they set them free and risk
exposure to the Taliban? The argument that follows is rational and impassioned,
with no easy answers to be found. Taking charge, Murphy decides to let them go,
and within minutes they are surrounded by more than a hundred armed Taliban
fighters. Escape isn't really an option. All they can do is fight and pray
rescue shows up in time.
And the firefight that ensues is truly something to behold, not that it's
exactly enjoyable, but because it's so brutal that it's tough to look at
without wincing. It wouldn't be so bad if these men endured a quick,
bullet-riddled demise; this is death by degrees in which the greatest threat
doesn't come at the end of a gun. Instead it's Mother Nature posing the
greatest obstacle, with the trees and rocks forming a jagged tag team of
destruction, picking the men apart as they tumble and crash from one cliff to
the next. These are some of the most intense war scenes ever depicted on
screen, and there never seems to be an end to it. For nearly an hour we're
forced to watch these men face overwhelming odds with bravery and an
unflappable sense of duty, protecting one another like brothers in every sense
of the word. Berg doesn't trust in their courage to be enough, though,
glorifying in the chaos and sickening sounds of bodies cracking against the
rocks. He just can't help himself from turning a truly heroic, noble act into
just another action movie. While Berg largely avoids any philosophizing
on the necessity of our presence in Afghanistan, his one-note depictions of
Shah and the Pashtun people speaks volumes. But it's also to his credit that
he's able to keep the suspense at a high level despite our knowing how tragic
it all turns out and one could say that actually makes their slow demise
tougher to endure.
While the four leading performances are better collectively, there are a
couple of individual stand-outs. Kitsch has never been more charismatic than he
is here, showing a maturity that was sorely lacking in his previous efforts. He
gets the film's defining moment, a momentous act of self-sacrifice that
reverberates right up until the end, and perhaps this is Berg doing him a favor
for that whole Battleship fiasco. It's probably no surprise to learn that
Foster finds layers of complexity in the passionate Axelson, while Wahlberg is
in full "everyman" mode here. Poor Emile Hirsch is basically left
carrying everybody else's luggage, and Eric Bana frustratingly spends most of
his time on the telephone.
The film ends with one final show of respect, honoring the 19 soldiers who
perished during Operation Red Wings. Despite Berg's painting in broad strokes
and reveling in the violence too much,
Lone Survivor is itself a glowing
tribute to the drive, determination, and spirit of our armed forces.
