Movie reviews
The temptation is to read too much into Gibson’s performance, a compelling turn in which Gibson is at times painfully difficult to watch. Walter’s mood swings are so severe that Gibson is in dire danger of suffering psychological whiplash: when the gaunted, hooded eyes with their thousand-yard stare do light up with hope, there’s a tantalising glimpse of a shaft of light penetrating a dank dungeon, one charged with the foreknowledge that any such hope is temporary. The conceit of having a stuffed beaver sit on Gibson’s arm for most of the film is visually ridiculous, as is the Cockney-Australian accent Walter adopts for his self-flagellating act of ventriloquism, although the point director (and co-star) Jodie Foster makes is that Walter has moved so far beyond the emotional pale that he is utterly disinterested in other people’s opinions. There’s a freedom in that kind of lunacy, and the film suggests a redemptive quality that Gibson surely hopes will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. But while it’s a compelling tale of one man’s return from hell while the cameras are fixed on Gibson, the film is less interesting as a commentary on mental health when Foster broadens out Walter’s story to include his estranged son.
A DECORATED veteran of the Iraq War, Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) receives a dreaded posting during his recuperation from injuries in (15A), when he is seconded to the Casualty Notification Team under Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson). Their job is to notify the next-of-kin of a dead soldier that their nearest and dearest has just died, and writer-director Oren Moverman has interesting things to say about the perversity of a world in which soldiers can psyche themselves into killing at will, yet baulk at the prospect of being the messengers of death. Things get further complicated for Will when he falls for the widow of a dead soldier, mother-of-one Olivia (Samantha Morton), and while the story revolves around the emotional and moral ethics of their relationship, Moverman’s film allows Morton and Foster the time and room to subtly explore their relationship. Strong performances from the three leads, along with an affecting cameo from Steve Buscemi as a bereaved father, set the tone for a movie that quietly but effectively examines the consequences of war on the home front, bringing an unusual degree of realism to bear on the personal cost that lies behind the headlines.
