Macho movie - tanker team in WWII

Rating: 7/10 (7 February 2015)

Went in expecting to see a macho film on brotherhood in WWII and was not disappointed. Here the character of Brad Pitt as Wardaddy was portrayed as a war-hardened leader who was nevertheless soft in the core and tried to protect his team and his comrades in his own way. His closely knit team, though appearing like a band of misfits, outdid others in their solidarity and performance. The finale was heroic and dramatic with only the rookie surviving due to a German solider's mercy. All very grand with fraternity with a capital F. The movie was however marred by some parts. The slightly pathetic "playacting" with the two German women initiated by Wardaddy to foster an illusion of truce and short-lived peace amidst the plundering of the rest of the company was unreal - was that trying to convey that underneath Wardaddy was as innocent as the rookie? The ensuing dissonance (almost a mutiny) by the other tankers was also trying the audience as the presumed tension was not as poignant as the director would have it. There were several good side shots on the cruelty of war; the wounded, the corpses, the hanging of "child traitors", the blood bespattered family photos, etc. All in all, this serves as good entertainment even if it isn't top notch of its genre.