I watched this movie because of all the awards buzz it has gained recently. This includes a Best Supporting Actor nod for Woody Harrelson in one of year end critics awards.
The title refers to the thankless duty of notifying next of kin about the death of their loved ones in the War. That is the assignment given to Sgt. Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) when he had to come from the war due to an eye injury during an explosion. We worked under the "mentor-ship" of seemingly no-nonsense Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson).
Once this premise had been established, you knew that the situations they would face would be richly infused with human drama, and they indeed were. To make things more interesting, Sgt. Will also had to face the problem of his girlfriend getting engaged to someone else, and the dilemma of getting involved with a widow to whom he delivered bad news of her husband's death. We also get to see what actually transpires tragically behind Capt. Stone's cold facade.
The screenplay effectively and interestingly mines all possible areas of personal conflict regarding the war situation at home. I'm going out on a limb to comment that there was a problem in the direction by newcomer Oren Moverman. The treatment was too turgid and slow. The actors, while very good in internalizing their roles, had that creepy vibe that makes empathizing with them difficult for me. While maybe that is what the director aims to achieve, this undignified portrayal of Will and Stone as private individuals detracts from my appreciation of this film as a whole.
The title refers to the thankless duty of notifying next of kin about the death of their loved ones in the War. That is the assignment given to Sgt. Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) when he had to come from the war due to an eye injury during an explosion. We worked under the "mentor-ship" of seemingly no-nonsense Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson).
Once this premise had been established, you knew that the situations they would face would be richly infused with human drama, and they indeed were. To make things more interesting, Sgt. Will also had to face the problem of his girlfriend getting engaged to someone else, and the dilemma of getting involved with a widow to whom he delivered bad news of her husband's death. We also get to see what actually transpires tragically behind Capt. Stone's cold facade.
The screenplay effectively and interestingly mines all possible areas of personal conflict regarding the war situation at home. I'm going out on a limb to comment that there was a problem in the direction by newcomer Oren Moverman. The treatment was too turgid and slow. The actors, while very good in internalizing their roles, had that creepy vibe that makes empathizing with them difficult for me. While maybe that is what the director aims to achieve, this undignified portrayal of Will and Stone as private individuals detracts from my appreciation of this film as a whole.