A big box office success in the USA, but my local multiplex is showing Lone Survivor on its smallest screen in the first week of release, which suggests that the same isn’t expected here, and the first few minutes of the movie probably explains why. Peter Berg’s Afghan war drama starts with a montage of real footage of marines training and a patriotic voice over. That probably had them wetting themselves in Oklahoma, but it left me feeling a little queasy, and, judging by the big sigh emitted by a bloke a few rows back, I wasn’t the only one! The scenes that follow, introducing our protagonists as they spend time at their military base awaiting their next missions, are not much better.
Mark Wahlberg, as Marcus Luttrell, brings his usable likeable every-man qualities to the role, but his three compatriots (Taylor Kitsch as Murphy, Emile Hirsch as Dietz and Ben Foster as Axelson) are stereotypical and boorish military men. In fact with similar haircuts and beards, it is difficult to tell them apart, and the characters feel interchangeable, despite some pretty clumsy attempts to introduce their back stories. So, the first third of the film, involving numerous scenes of macho posturing is thoroughly boring.
The film only picks up when the four men are dropped behind enemy lines for a reconnaissance mission that becomes much more than that when they are spotted by a native shepherd. The two best scenes of the film then follow. Firstly there is an interesting debate between the four of men regarding what to do with the old man and the two young boys that accompany him. The decision to let them go results in the other great scene in the movie. Released, they raise the alarm forcing the marines into a protracted gun battle with a local warlord’s army. It is extremely well staged, you can feel every bullet wound the Luttrell and his comrades endure, and the sight of them tumbling down rock faces in a desperate attempt to escape are breath taking.
However, even this sequence is marred by some cheesy dialogue that could have appeared in a John Wayne World War II movie in the quieter moments, and the way that the deaths of Murphy, Dietz and Axelson are shot. Whilst countless Afghanis are dispatched without a thought, their deaths are shown in slow motion with portentous music playing. That isn’t a criticism of the score itself, provided by the always impressive (in a studio at least, their lives shows are comparatively dull) Texan post-rock band Explosions in the Sky, but of the heavy handed way it is used.
Luttrell is left as the last man alive, which isn’t a spoiler as the title of the film and an early scene already give that away! The last part of the film deals with his attempts to survive whilst badly injured, his learning to trust some friendly locals and finally his rescue. Apart from a dramatic failed first rescue mission, the film fizzles out, and it ends almost as disappointingly as it begun.Interestingly, for such a tub thumping, flag waving film, the actual men were more heroic than shown. In reality, the gunfight went on for much longer, Luttrell’s injuries were worse and his escape was more difficult than shown.
Maybe the film makers were conscious of not overdoing the jingoism, though they didn’t really succeed in that regard. Compared by some to Black Hawk Down, but not in that league and not worth recommending.
Rating: 4 out of 10