Memorial Day

First and foremost let me preface this review by saying I love independent films and war films. This film has four main actors, and they all did a marvelous job making their characters extremely believable and real. But, what makes this movie unmistakably good is that it makes you feel. There is no way you can not watch this movie and not feel for the grandfathers condition, or the trials and tribulations that that Kyle Vogel, and Bud Vogel. But, maybe most importantly this film forces us to look at what war is. This film shows that regardless of how much war has changed, in many ways it has not changed. There is still death, loss, and moral struggles. That at some point we all must come to terms with. This is a movie that I would recommend with flying colors, but I am skeptical of this movies re-watch value because once the moral issues have been lay-ed out there is not much else to this movie.

Memorial Day is not meant to be a "war" movie, it is a Veteran's story. Made with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, the intent was to convey to our families and friends the impact on the soul of going to war. It is not meant to glorify war, everyone who goes there comes back a lesser person in some ways. Enlightened yes, but all too often hardened also. Being a Veteran of several campaigns I don't see myself ever opening up to my immediate family but someday with time and a bit of distance from those tours of duty will be able to relate some of it to grandchildren as "Bud" Vogel/actor James Cromwell, the Grandfather in the movie did.

This movie was helped by a lot of really good people helping to make it this far, and graced by historically significant WWII aircraft. The P38 Lightning is one of only a half dozen flying in the world, the P51 Mustang is one of only a handful that actually flew combat missions in WWII. Fagen Fighters of Granite Falls, Minnesota must be thanked for that. It was made with the invaluable contribution of the WWII Historical Reenactment Society, and many local MN Iraq Veterans used as background actors. It is a story of great significance, and if we can get it told I feel it will do immeasurable good in helping Veterans and their families come to terms with our current return to civilian life. And not least of all, it is a respectful homage to our passing WWII Veterans. In 10 yrs they will all virtually be gone. Our hopes are that the movie will help them, and Veterans of all wars, pass on their first hand experiences and witness to history.

"Promise me no matter what I tell you I'll always be your Opa." While Kyle Vogel (Bennett) is at a hospital recovering from a wound he got in war his nurse begins to ask him about his life. He decides to tell her about a talk he had with his grandfather (Cromwell) when he was 13. This is another movie that I thought could have been either really good or really boring. I wasn't sure how a movie about a grandfather telling his grandson about war artifacts could be any good. After twenty minutes I was absolutely hooked. I really connected with this movie on a personal level as my grandpa was also a vet and always wanted to ask him about what he went through. I only heard one story and after hearing it I never asked again. That aside, this is one great movie that deserves to be watched. The acting buy Cromwell is Oscar caliber and he deserves to be nominated for this, but like most low budget movies it gets glossed over because of the budget. Which isn't fair at all. I highly recommend this movie and is in my top 10 of movies released this year. Overall, a must see movie that will leave you choked up at the end. I give it an A.

This was a family story as much as a war story, mostly watchable due to the performances from James and John Cromwell. It does its best to tug at your heartstrings and make you feel for the characters, and ultimately I wish I had liked it more because Memorial Day has an important message to tell.

The story is filled with flashbacks starting when a 12 year old Kyle discovers his grandfathers footlocker from WW2 and asks him about his time during the war. "Bud" is still wracked with grief and struggles, reluctant to talk about it. Eventually though an aging James Cromwell shares a story about one of the items from the footlocker, taking us back to Europe where his real life son James plays his part. -Wow do they ever look alike.

Flip flopping back and forth we also follow a grown up Kyle who uses the wisdom from his grandfather while serving his own tour in Iraq. I did enjoy the modern battle scenes here, I thought they were well done. Ultimately this did bring a lump to my throat and James Cromwell kind of breaks your heart it just wasn't fantastic or anything. 11/9/15

In the interest of full disclosure, I do know some "principals" involved with the making of this film, and was on location to watch a few scenes being filmed and met most of the cast.

With that out of the way. Seriously, what these people did, from a conversation, to an idea, from concept, to an LLC, bringing in the key actors, etc. They did not just "make a movie" to say "hey, we made a movie." With limited time, limited location, limited funds, they took a great screenplay which the actors obviously enjoyed, executed their performances to the best of their abilities. They followed through on the cutting room floor, with the Audio and with the Digitization. BEAUTIFUL!

Again, come full circle to the wonderful screenplay, and the performances of the Cromwell's. I loved the movie. I will own it and I will watch it every Memorial Day for my remaining years. Kudos to the entire cast/crew!