unbelievable... truly; and not for political reasons

Rating: 5/10 (1 July 2008)

I really loved this film! It took me in and got me involved from the start. I followed and identified with Ryan Phillipe's character from the opening scene. It was a realistic blend of what a social/geopolitical group perceives as it's foreign policy and what the individual actually endures to perpetuate that ideal.
However....
This film seemed to miss a lot of opportunity, and ignore some basic precepts along the way. It lost believability in the final acts, as the main characters are divided by ideals, but still cannot communicate. I find it hard to believe that the two main characters, who have grown up together to be best friends,in this film, cannot find some common ground in which to communicate. The fact that their short military service can divide them so unequivocally is very hard to swallow. Given the obvious fact that one of them is the 'smart' one,who gets it; and the other is the 'dumb', impressionable one who falls for the military propaganda, still does not over-ride the long relational bond that we suppose has developed and sustained these two 'blood brothers' through thick and thin, through life since the Third Grade. I cannot imagine a bond this close being broken by the regimen of military life. The Primary failure of this film lies, to me, in the relationship of the main character to his father. This could have been a heartfelt exploration of the true agony of battle, as seen from a popular war vs. an unpopular one. The Vietnam veteran and the Iraq veteran,father and son, and all that that implies,was completely ignored, and was a truly missed chance for the filmmaker to make a lasting impression on the audience. Instead, the emphasis on an unfair policy was made clear; but, in the end, no resolution, and no subjective or real 'content' was forthcoming. The final result of this film is an obvious attempt to jump on the bandwagon of recent times and exploit the idea that the US should not be involved in Middle Eastern politics. It could have been so much more...