War never ends.....period

Rating: Null/10 (5 November 2014)

"All sound and fury, signifying nothing". Yep, that's war, no matter where it's fought, no matter who wins, no matter what they win, and no matter who they butcher doing all that.
I'd like to believe that Ayer had that thought while making this one, which I consider his best to date, at least in terms of ambition, of not in terms of execution as well (I'm in his corner, but many don't seem to be).
If you wanna watch the horror of war, and feel it hit you over the head and smell the mud and the grime and become numb at the end of it, and still wanna talk about it, trying to make sense of it all, while staying anti-war, this movie achieves that remarkable feat.
A respected friend, in his/her critique, called this clichéd and predictable, and I think it is a little bit of both, in parts, but never loses sight of the human tale it tells, even during the final relentless set-piece that doesn't seem to have an end.
Of course, harsher people have called this the worst ending in years, and I think they missed the point completely, just as they're sure to have missed the point of the clean-up-and-sup sequence that serves to take us (and mainly, the ravaged characters, who have been through a lot, and have nothing better to look forward to) away from the relentless (there's that word again) brutalities and atrocities of war (and its inevitable fallout), if just for a few moments. In that scene, you completely understand what the main characters want, have been through, and are about. Sadly, the main point missed by most audience-members (it's okay - at least they paid to watch the flick and then make their observations - the movie deserved that much).
Every performance, be it the lead (not Pitt) Lerman, or Shia LaBeouf (surprisingly, almost cast against type - imagine the kinda lobbying he and his agent would have had to do to land him this gig), Bernthal (apparently channeling his 'Shane' from 'The Walking Dead' according to some ignoramus who thought he/she could understand what characterization is all about), Peña (always solid, but not given much room over here) or (unsurprisingly) Pitt is grounded in the conflict, and you believe that these men have been serving together as long as they have, and bond as easily as they do. I also cannot get enough of watching Jason Isaacs perform, and he's in 2 whole scenes in this one. I don't think his talents are being utilized the way they ought to be.
One of the best sequences, for me, was the infamously derided clean- up-and-sup sequence, and it is so contextual and plausible that I am even more surprised at audience reactions, and wonder what some people expect from a work of fiction. It's almost as though no one has heard of artistic liberty at all, when it comes to this flick, but all the liberties taken by other mainstream flicks are alright. Separate rules indeed!
I also got diverted by all the talk (to be fair, I've heard only 1 opinion on the subject so far) on how there were no tracer bullets in WWII. I confess I found it to be slightly distracting initially, and gave the movie-maker the benefit of doubt thereafter, but the one who accompanied me said he was completely out of it all after he saw that, and the movie made no impact on him at all. So it's possible that the other audience-members who felt differently found their own (or the same) points due to which they felt no longer involved in the movie-watching experience for this one. IMHO, they missed a good one.
A good time at the movies this weekend - definitely to be enjoyed on the biggest screen possible.