Billy Lynn's Long Half Time Walk (2016)

Billy Lynn's Long Half Time Walk is an exploration of the way American culture fetishizes and mishandles veterans. Told from the point of view of young soldier who has returned home a hero, we witness the superficial way America pays tribute to him, juxtaposed with the battles he experienced for real. The film forces us to reckon with what it means to "support our troops" and the stranger in a strange land feeling many soldiers feel upon returning to the country they are supposedly fighting for.

There are two main reasons why I felt Billy Lynn didn't quite work. The first is the choice to film in a rapid frame rate. As far as I am aware this is the first major release since The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey to use a significantly higher number of frames per second than the average film. It has a jarring effect and there are times when it is used effectively here (more on that later). But generally it makes it seem like you are watching cardboard cut outs of actors layered two dimensionally on top of one another. This pared with director Ang Lee's choice to film most scenes in uncompromising close up makes the audience feel put off.

The second piece is the casting. For some reason (perhaps the film's frame rate) so much of the cast feels remarkably wooden. The choice to cast first timer Joe Alwyn in a role like this, one where the camera, in hyperHD, is focused so tightly on him, seems foolharder. He doesn't appear to be up to the task. His performance often feels forced, uninspired.  Under the grueling demands of a film shot like Billy Lynn Alwyn doesn't pull off a realistic role and since he's the centre of the film he pulls it all down. But it's not just him. I am not a fan of Kristen Stewart, Garret Hedlund, or Vin Diesel as actors (I know that puts me in the minority) and here I found all their performances wooden, lifeless, and generally unbelievable. All of this, in high def no less, makes the film feel emotionless and "performed."

However the film doesn't outright fail. There are its moments. The centrepiece of the movie, the Half Time Show where the soldiers are trotted out on stage like show ponies and exposed to the triggering effects of the commodification of their war experiences, is strikingly powerful. This is where Lee's choices make sense. We are on that stage. We are in the battles. We are exploited by our nation, just like these soldiers. It comes together. It makes sense. It is a stunning moment that needs to be seen on the big screen.

There is a personal moment which I feel the film did well. Billy Lynn's romance with a cheerleader he meets briefly crumbles predictably around him and he's wounded. In that moment, Not only does Alwyn redeem himself, the film does too. Our "love" of our vets isn't based on us placing value on their service, it's on our ideological desire to justify the horrors we participate in. It's in the cheerleaders face, a lack of ability to to truly humanize Billy.  She needs him to be something safely imaginary. Him as a person is far too much for her to invest in. Our soldiers as human beings are too hard for us to manage as we send them off to war.

Billy Lynn's Long Half Time Walk is a noble effort with moments of brilliance but it doesn't hold an audience's passion for long enough. While I appreciated what they were trying to do, they didn't quite make it have the emotional punch it needs to get its point across.

Billy Lynn's Long Half Time Walk
Starring: Joe Alwyn, Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, Vin Diesel
Director: Ang Lee
Writers: Jean-Christophe Castelli