Never mind questioning how pro-war or anti-war this is, because while it does make some critical commentary about the war, that's not the purpose of the movie. If anything else, this is very much pro-troops. The story attempts to bring us closer into understanding the point of view of a soldier, fresh from a battle in Iraq, that is brought back to do a victory tour in a "war free" place like an NFL game in Texas. Joe Alwyn stars as that soldier; Billy Lynn, as we see him deal with some post-traumatic-stress-disorder, while being paraded around like some celebrity.
A lot of the themes in this movie is about perspective. Actual life or death war, to the hectic nature of putting on a halftime show at a sporting event. People who have actual respect for the people who serve in the military, to people who only see the superficial image of the hero soldier. The horror of having to fight a war, to the romanticized view of fighting a war. The casualties of war, to the profits of war. There are times that those different perspectives may have felt forced or clumsily told to us, but the intentions were definitely in the right place.
Needless to say, this is very much a "talking-heads" drama, and not a typical war movie. In fact, it feels more like a stage play that's translated into a movie narrative, which may not be everyone's preference. The actual war scene is also probably only ten percent of the whole movie, and isn't overly flashy; unless you see it in 120FPS (more on that via the PS). Director Ang Lee's goal here is to make this story feel more intimate and personal for the viewers, by having the actors talk directly to the camera during conversational scenes a good majority of the time. I thought he actually succeeded in his overall vision. There may be people who will not share his vision, but hopefully they will still find the message of the story to be a very poignant one.
lovedit ENJOYED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible
P.S. I did see this movie in the purest form of Ang Lee's vision, in it's 120FPS HFR (High Frame Rate) version. Most people will balk at watching a movie in that format for various reasons, but I personally really thought it added immensely to the experience. The stark clarity of detail of the images on screen is just simply amazing to watch, and made the whole thing feel so much more immersive to the point of realism. With a lot of first person perspectives implemented throughout, the HFR actually did make me feel like I was right there with the characters of the story, experiencing everything right along with them. This video format really helped emphasize Ang Lee's direction of making the story more intimate, less larger than life, and more personal feeling.
