A Work of Art that Somehow avoided the Clichés

Rating: 10/10 (14 April 2017)

It was bloody.
It was violent.
And it's the best Christian movie I have ever seen.
It starts out with a southern, Virginian boy climbing up a cliff with his brother. It's sweet and innocent and normal. Five minutes later, he almost kills his brother. Throughout this, it's revealed through easy dialogue that the boys' father is a drunk. Skip forward fifteen years, and the boy is now a full grown man. He falls in love with a nurse while he tries to further his own medical knowledge. Just as the movie turns into a cliché, he leaves her and enters training. The catch- he cannot touch a rifle. He suffers, obviously. Bullied and beaten, he still stays. And he goes to the front. It's a bloody, heart wrenching place.
Unlike most war movies, it doesn't focus on politics. It is not a hateful movie. It's not about race or superiority. It's about him somehow surviving and saving seventy something people over the course of a few days. It's through sheer willpower and God. They mention maybe one verse from the bible. There are no scenes where he tries to evangelize to people.
But the message is just as strong and clear.
God can do great things.
Even if you aren't Christian, I still say you should watch it. It shows an amazing story of a soldier, who looked beyond race and life. He saved men, even Japanese! It's shocking and it's striking, macabre images compelling a strong story that is not diminished or brushed over with frustrating characters or irritable clichés. It's a bright star in the world of puddling movies. I will admit, the romance with him and his fiancé is a bit cliché. But it balances out with the bleak reality of war. It is not an honorable place. It is a place that should not exist. It's a glorified killing ground that hurts many.
But he still stays. And he saves.
And that, is something I have never seen.