Pisaries Creator

There are not major spoilers in this review!

“You want to get sleep when you can. You never know what’s going to happen.”

-Sammy-

There’s a Civil War Happening Somewhere in the U.S.

Civil War begins with a group of photo/war journalists discussing their careers thus far and how the current civil war in the U.S. has clouded and influenced (although maybe this is just me thinking this actually happened in a scene because I wanted more) the minds of those still alive during this dark time. There is little to hope to speak as this civil has been waging for a while and the president of the U.S. seems to turn to the same old methods of ineffectiveness when it comes to addressing problems. As Lee (Dunst), Joel (Moura), and Sammy (Henderson) listens to the news, it is clear there are power skirmishes occurring between the east and west coasts. For anyone who knows anything about Texas and California, well there is no way in heaven or hell these two states would work together for a common cause. I mean the north and south sections of California are fairly diverse so they might not even work together either. What is clearly happening is the U.S. military fighting with its western citizens compared to the eastern counterparts.

We also meet Jessie (Spaeny) not long into the movie where Lee becomes the reluctant mentor to Jessie although Joel and Sammy also lend their support to Jessie in times of need. She is too green to understand the ramifications of what it takes and means to be a war journalist. Jessie has not seen things the other have. Her heart hasn’t hardened yet. She still has a clear-cut access route to her emotions. There’s a nice comparison between Lee and Jessie as the movie progresses. Jessie ultimately learns to compartmentalize her life as each day passes. The scene in the end where Jessie’s relationship with Lee’s is at its highest and is captured brilliantly. While I was able to get a little satisfaction of watching combat briefly taking place in the second half of the movie, it was not close to being enough. The scene where U.S. citizens were questioned about being actual Americans was all too familiar by today’s standards and yet, I wanted the scene to go further. Basically, some towns and cities were controlled by those who could make the decisions of who could live and who deserved to die. The makeshift gravesites were only a part of small-town USA. People also chose to pretend no one was struggling or dying. Their blinders were fully intact over their eyes.

The point of being neutral on the surface as a war reporter is crystal clear even if the emotions are all over the place inside the person reporting the unfolding news. Hope is not a word that comes to mind during any part of Civil War. It’s been sucked in and spit out by just about everyone in the film because the object of a reporter is to report the bigger story, the bigger picture. They do not zero in on the little details or the specific answers. Questions rarely seem to be asked by the reporters because there is no time to ask them when trying not to get hit by a bullet even though they are wearing a bullet proof vest. We all know there is nothing to save you if a bullet hits your head or neck that is exposed. And this is where Civil War ends, with death in its most objective form and touching only the surface level in the last scene. While Joel’s last question is one of the few asked, the response was most fitting. Civil War is one hour and 49 minutes and has an R rating for violence, disturbing scenes, blood, and language. It was written and directed by Alex Garland. The major cast includes Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Nick Offerman, Evan Lai, Nelson Lee, and Stephen McKinley Henderson.

We Become Our Profession Over Time

Over time as adults, we grow into our professions and vice versa. Our jobs become intimate parts of our lives. All you have to do is go back in time and think of situations you still remember about your past co-workers or managers or both. Some of them ended up as friends, some not your friends, and others remained acquaintances that never went anywhere. You lost touch with many of them when you were no longer working together. It’s similar to high school. You keep in touch usually with a few of them but less than more. The major characters which are the four journalists basically have the same goal, which is to get to Washington D.C.

Lee is on the journey because that is what is expected of her by herself. Joel has a bone to pick with the President so to speak. Sammy wants to feel he hasn’t lost his mojo. Jessie wants to prove she has what it takes to be just like Lee. Their safety is in the hands of others because they aren’t strapped from head to toe with weapons. Sure, there was fighting happening in some of the scenes, but nothing seems to come to a definitive end in any of them. They remained on the edges of the film. I had no sense on who was winning and what would tip the scale to one side or the other. With all the social media platforms existing, surely there were citizens out there commenting on Facebook. Basically, there was not any hint of a modern-day Gettysburg. There were times I felt more than half the U.S. population had perished based on the scarcity of people in some of the traveling scenes.

Watch the Trailer

Overall View of Civil War

This is not the movie I thought it would be based on the advertising, but I’m glad I watched it. I didn’t feel bamboozled as other movies I’ve seen although the major thing missing from Civil War is the origins of why the U.S. was engaged in a war in the first place beyond the obvious racial tension of the current time. Some movies rely too much on backstory where Civil War could have used more. This plot was not about actual U.S. citizens fighting against each other, but more about the daily grind of photo/war journalists trying to capture the “perfect realistic war photo.” If you wanted to see a rendition of a possible scenario of a second U.S. Civil War playing out on the screen, you will be disappointed. While a war is taking place on U.S. soil with the most powerful person holed up in the White House, this political thriller, adventure, and semi-action movie resembles more The Killing Fields than Glory. The movie left me a little disappointed, but the overall acting was the glue that held the scenes together.

I rate Civil War FOUR FINGERS at 90%.