Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

Many people said it is an anti-war movie,I don't think so. This movie is far more than anti-war.Because it is not a rich story ,but a rich truth and an emotion. It doesn't want to give you an opinion about what war is, but show you an emotion about a young man and a war. A so-called hero came back from Iraq, how is his life?

In the real world, the truth and emotion are complicated. So it is hard to say what its theme is. Maybe the theme is to doubt our fake society Maybe the theme is to show the hero's confused life. However, they are parts of this movie. It is more like a section of Billy's life. He has family,battle companion, stranger and girlfriends. Sometimes he is distracted at his important moment,sometims all in front of him remind him of war. He sees and thinks.He might find that life is difficult to choose,finally he go back to the place where he belongs.

If you can feel you are Billy Lynn, you can feel how ridiculous this society is.Nobody understands you,people see what they want to see.the sad thing is, you can change nothing but follow the direction of fate.

If you don't have sensory substitution,this movie is boring.

From the beginning of Billy's halftime show， I can't help crying. I even can't detail the reasons of my tears. The emotion is so strong, so complicate and so advanced. I feel so sad about Billy's life.

I think it is a good movie, not very fun, but revolutionary.

This sees a couple of soldiers back on in the good US of A. But they are in between, because they are supposed to go back to the war zone. One in particular is praised as a hero, for what he did on the battlefield. And while he is not highest in rank, he is the one most are concentrating on. The story too, with his struggle and his flashbacks to the day that made him "famous".

There are quite a few stars in this, some in really small roles (like Vin Diesel or Kristen Stewart), but what is important, is that everyone involved gives their best and it shows on screen. You may know where this is going, but it still is a very fine watch. A tough movie to watch, with obvious stabs at many thins (media attention, praise but also false heroism and much more) ... it really is like a mirror showing a couple of bad sides of society. Then again, is there a chance to change?

This is a good movie. All the discussion about it surrounds the technology used in making it, and that's necessary, but it's not the whole story -- nor is it NOT the story as others would have you believe. The simple fact is that this is a well-acted and at times completely engrossing anti-war picture, one that is more often than not, yes, let down by some of the failings of trying to show off the tech. Some scenes come across as incredibly "stage-y" for lack of a better word, and the lighting can be overlit fluorescent too often (like a docudrama).

However, that being said, I did have the pleasure of actually being able to see this on 3D bluray and I must say it's absolutely the most stunning 3D I think I've ever seen. There's an incredible amount of depth to so many scenes -- sometimes it's showy, but sometimes it's in service of the story like when Billy comes home and the entrance hallway seems to stretch on forever out in front of him, inviting him in to its embrace but also providing a dark trap. The essential conundrum, the doublethink, at the center of his inner workings.

The subject of Ang Lee's "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" isn't the war in Iraq but in how America reacts to its heroes and its soldiers and it's a theme that can be traced back through two World Wars. Indeed for almost as long as movies have existed the cinema has concerned itself with the relationship between the military and the world at large, how it performs and how it is perceived. The most famous example of this is probably the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima and the subsequent 'tour' back home immortalised in such films as "The Outsider" with Tony Curtis as Ira Hayes and Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers" and Oliver Stone's Vietnam film "Born on the Fourth of July" so it was only a matter of time before someone would do something similiar with one of the current wars.

Moving back and forth in time between the events in Iraq and the tour to celebrate the 'heroes' Lee's film is a complex and surprisingly satirical picture that doesn't go down the obvious route of 'what really happened and how the media constructs events' and, being an Ang Lee film, is very skillfully made. As Billy Lynn, the soldier chosen to be the poster boy for the military, newcomer Joe Alwyn is excellent and it's a film that ultimately confounds our expectations. The chest-thumping of "Born on the Fourth of July" is conspicuously absent and if the film seems to lack a big dramatic pay-off it's still a moving depiction of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events.

The politics of war are incredibly complex, and the human cost is disturbingly high. There are no wonder why those who give up their lives to fight oversea are honored with great dignity. But the big question in this war drama directed by Oscar Winner Ang Lee is: Are we honoring these soldiers the right way? That is an idea that this film takes a dive in, but not with enough impact. Lee's approach to the absorbing topic is too shallow of emotional touch. The greatest accolade Lee acquires in this picture is allowing it to shine with a unique visual innovation, and that is shooting the film with an unheard-of frame rate of 120 FPS to capture the immense atmosphere of the war sequences. It is a technological achievement that powerfully shows how far Hollywood has advanced in technological. Seeing this movie at a theater with an unusual frame rate that high is an alarmingly tough get as there are only six theaters around the globe that include this, with only two of these theaters planted in the United States. Set in 2004, this follows 19-year old Billy Lynn (played by Joe Alwyn), an Army specialist returning home from active duty in Iraq with his fellow squad members. On the day of a Thanksgiving home game at the Dallas Cowboys stadium, Billy, honored as a hero for his duty, and his squad members are brought together on a victory tour during the halftime show. During the tour, Billy is hit with flashbacks of the tragedies that occurred during the battle in Iraq including the death of his friend Staff Sergeant Shroom (played by Vin Diesel) as opposed to the American citizens fantasized perceptions of what they think happened over there. Along the way, he finds his heroism manipulated by film producers Norm (played by Steve Martin) and Albert (played by Chris Tucker) who are trying to land a movie deal out of the events that squadron's faced.

Based on the novel by Ben Fountain, this drama capitalizes on themes of patriotism and honor, and opens light on social issues that run between the grim realities of war and the distorted views of active combat by citizens back at home. The primary concern here deals with home civilians including the media exploiting the heroism soldiers acquire during active duty overseas, simply for our own personal gain. As disconcerting as it is, one thing this film proves is that unless you have been in active combat, you have little or no idea of what it is realistically feels like being in active combat overseas. Director Ang Lee makes an engaging point out of this concept. But alongside, the film also introduces these contradictions on how soldiers are celebrated by citizens for their active duty, yet people all over America continue to disdain war as an unnecessary bargain; an idea that the story never fully explores. From there on, the story slips into a jumbled mess and offers little emotional touch to the point where viewers are left with no impact. The film's emotional highpoints stand during the flashbacks of the title character and his squad fighting in Iraq which are powerfully shot and executed in authenticity. It's too bad that these scenes only make up a small portion of the near-two- hour runtime, while the majority the picture follows Billy and his squadron walking through the stadium during the halftime show with Destiny's Child performing and fireworks going off. If this manages to wring anything out of the story's framework other than its absorbing ideas, it is the performances, particularly Joe Alwyn as Billy and Kristen Stewart as his older sister, given the opportunity to flex her acting muscles. The rest of the cast offer some good on screen presences, operating with a sense of cynicism and humility. Looking for something Oscar- worthy though, you are probably better off looking elsewhere.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is a shallow war drama that fails to arrest viewers with its timely themes and Ang Lee's scattershot approach to an otherwise thoughtful examination of its eponymous character versus America's fantasized perceptions of war. Although the final product is disappointingly forgettable, some may admire Ang Lee's effort on embracing the film with his visual innovation. However, its a technological effort that is too early to introduce in major theaters at this point.