Saw the movie Lone Survivor, the true story of a not-so-successful military action in Afghanistan (spoiler alert: one guy lives). This movie strives for what I can only assume is a strong sense of realism in its depiction of the military and the combat which is important since that’s all there is in the movie. Four guys with beards and very little time spent on characterization in a very bad situation (only problem with the combat, and I’m guessing it’s based on reality, these guys take a lot of bullets before going down… almost too Hollywood… and very grim). I’m not a huge fan of this movie (it’s got a LOT of positive buzz) but I loved the last 20-30 minutes. For a movie that feels like a rah-rah Go USA, Afghans in robes are evil bastards there’s important elements that are far more even-handed (including a rare but great laugh line…. “Fuck Taliban”… and another involving a chicken). This is a solid movie full of tense, fairly violent gun fights (and compound fractures – eww)… I suspect some people will like it more than I did and I understand why they would.

Score: 80