Our Wounded Warriors

Rating: 9/10 (11 January 2014)

I'm usually not a fan of flag-waving war movies. But this one had a lot of nice elements. What carried the narrative along, so that it wasn't just a shoot out, (although one of those scenes went on too long for my taste), was careful editing, back and forth between two or three narratives. And what carried the day, was not patriotism, but the the band of men, fighting together. The four men, were admirable, although I wasn't completely happy with either Mark Wahlberg's character or acting, I'm not sure why, I seemed to have the sense that he wasn't in the fight as much as the other men, as if the star needs to be saved at the end, and I dislike having to say that, because I am sure the real life hero fought as bravely as the others. The script and dialog were tight. The film showed war at its bloodiest, most fatal, hand-to-had combat. And also had an interesting plot twist at the end showing the humanity of a culture other than our own. Interspersed with the fighting shots were wide angle natural beauty: supposed to be a mountainous range in Afghanistan; the film was shot in New Mexico. The film's credits at beginning and end - stay all the way to the end - nicely framed the picture in our real country's heroes. The entire theater audience with whom I saw the picture, applauded the film at the end, and at the end of the credits. Films don't often get that kind of praise.