By Emilio Frenk.
Director: Ang Lee
Cast: Joe Alwyn, Garrett Hedlund, Chris Tucker, Kristen Stewart, Makenzie Leigh, Vin Diesel, Tim Blake Nelson and Steve Martin
Rating: Average
Two time Academy Award Winning director Ang Lee, comes back four years after the release of “Life of Pi” with “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” and again he brought a stunning visual experience to the big screen but it had many flaws as well.
Based on the novel by Ben Fountain, the movie centers in 19 year old Billy Lynn, who decides to fight for his country in Iraq.
He comes back to America for touring and we see through flashbacks and from Billy’s point of view the life he lived during the war and before the war where his sister Kathryn (Kristen Stewart) show solidarity and love towards his brother and later in the film tries to convince him to stay home and not to continue with the war.
Another incentive in Billy’s life will came when he meets the cheerleader Faison (Makenzie Leigh) , during the Thanksgiving Day football game in Dallas, Texas.
Now Billy must decide to go back to Iraq andfight or stay home with his family after being recognized as a hero for his country.
Like I mentioned before, Ang Lee without a doubt is one of the most visual directors in Hollywood and every movie he makes is a unique, different and personal ride and with “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” was not the exception.
I admire Lee for the fact that innovates new technology for every single one of his films and this time this movie is also screened in 4K resolution with 120 fps (frames per second). This was a unique ride and for a movie like this it made total sense and wanted to make something new.
Where the movie has the major flaw was in terms of narrative. The script written by Jean-Christophe Castelli who collaborated with Lee before in movies like “The Ice Storm” and “Life of Pi” made his screenwriting debut but the script needed more work.
The major problem was dialogue that became to cheezy and the actions to predictable that you knew from the moment it started until it ended what was going to happen.
On the positive note of this ride I did like the inner conflict that Billy Lynn has during the movie but some of the flashbacks were not necessary.
If the movie would have been told with a conventional narrative and this is a straight line script this is when he wants to enrole, what he lives in the war and when he is touring it could have been a better film.
Two performances that I really liked and I was impressed were from both Vin Diesel who plays a commander in Lynn’s platoon and becames a mentor to him and Steve Martin who plays the Jerry Jones type (owner of the Dallas Cowboys) who wants to invest money on making a movie of the bravo squad, which Billy representsis really interesting and is always a privilege to see Martin who I consider one of the most respected comedians in Hollywood, although this time his role was more serious.
If the screenplay would have had more work the movie would be a great one, but everyone including Lee who is a very smart director on chosing his material properly were more concerned on trying to make the movie look good.
With that being said I give a slight recommendation to “Billy Lynn’s Long Hafltime Walk”.