The Dry Land

So far, my favorite Sundance film of 2010. The Dry Land is a deeply-felt, tone perfect portrait of an Iraqi war veteran's struggles to re-integrate into his marriage, family and community, as well as his journey to make peace with the events of his personal war.

This film is NOT political in any sense of the word, but rather a very human story, told by a director and actors who obviously care about both the characters and the many war vets struggling to readjust.

The film uses a very clever metaphor to bring us into the horrors of war, and the camera closely follows James to involve us from his point of view and to provide the intimacy needed to tell such a personal and troubling story.

If you are a war vet, or if you know or love one, or if you simply really DO care about the soldiers in combat zones throughout the world, SEE THIS FILM!

Warning: This film contains some graphic scenes and may break your heart.

This Film is recommended for those who want to find out about PTSD and don't have a clue what this thing is, just that returning Soldiers suffer from this "Disease". Problem is after viewing this almost unbearably Melodramatic and manipulative Movie you might start developing symptoms of your own. It is that depressing.

Do we really need a Cancerous Mother, a traumatized, possible cheating Wife, a job in a Slaughterhouse with graphic bloodletting, a paraplegic Comrade who lets go a ridiculous metaphor, insensitive Family Members and co-workers, a standoffish and selfish Friend from his Platoon in Iraq, all to illustrate in-adaptability? There are more understated, over the top inclusions. This is all so heavy handed while pretending not to be.

This is blunt, pounding away without consideration for even the slightest bit of elation to enter this exercise in despair. If you are hit in the head enough times, even with a soft object, the result is a numbness. So it defeats the purpose to inspire awareness to the subject at hand and tragically the audience becomes Collateral Damage.

It's a simple fact that plenty of soldiers are common people who come from nothing and were going nowhere. They didn't necessarily join the military out of a sense of patriotism. They just needed a purpose for living.

A lot of common guys are also trashy. None of these facts detract from the value of their service. Sometimes we see soldiers in an overly idealistic way, as if they are our patriotic, Christian heroes. Some are, but many aren't. That's just life.

Having said that, it almost goes without saying, that watching common trashy people live their depressing lives, is boring.

Certain things, like scenery, multi-dimensional characters, or some kind of epiphany, might save a picture. This one didn't have it.

As some other reviewers put it, Dry Land was indicative of the storyline and pace as well as the terrain. Performances were adequate, if clichéd.

I am a combat Veteran who was seriously wounded in Baghdad, Iraq on April 26, 2004. I had the opportunity to view The Dry Land at the Dallas International Film Festival in April this year. I think the movie does an excellent job portraying some of the issues that may occur when a combat Veteran comes home. Each one of us has a different experience of war and react differently when we come back home and try to fit back into normalcy. It can be difficult to accept that life back home may be different then prior to our deployment and the fact that our friends and family view us differently too. I think The Dry Land is spot on in every aspect of the movie and I want to thank all of the actors & actresses for their involvement and especially the Director and Screenwriter Ryan Piers Williams.

James (Ryan O'Nan) returns home to Texas from the Iraq war with memory loss. He suffers from PTSD and roughs up his loving wife Sarah (America Ferrera) in his dream state. His mother Martha (Melissa Leo) is sick. He starts work at the slaughterhouse with his best friend Michael (Jason Ritter). He seeks help after another episode. Sarah leaves him. He visits fellow troubled soldier Raymond Gonzales (Wilmer Valderrama) who leaves his family to join him on a road trip.

Relative unknown Ryan O'Nan gets the lead in this movie. I don't dismiss his quiet performance. I would rather Valderrama switch it up with the reserved explosive role. It would be more interesting to see him act outside his comfort zone. O'Nan has an everyman feel and sometimes fades into the background. It's a sincere movie with solid actors doing fine work.