The Dry Land

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.

After a bad ambush in Iraq, a man (Ryan O'Nan) comes home to El Paso to settle back into marriage and a job at a slaughter house, but buried issues keep surfacing. He and an army buddy (Wilmer Valderrama) travel to another town to visit a wounded comrade at a VA hospital. America Ferrera plays his wife, Jason Ritter a friend and Melissa Leo his mother

"The Dry Land" (2010) is a drama about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which brings to mind "Coming Home" (1978), "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989), "In Country" (1989) and "The Lucky Ones" (2007).

This one plays down clichéd Hollywood-isms, keeping the story simple and totally realistic. It's a low-key, slice-of-life film depicting what it's really like for a common military guy to come home from a bad war experience in a distant land and most resembles "In Country," albeit on a lower budget.

It's simple and nothing to get overly excited about, but that's the way it was intended because that's the way it is for military guys like this. There are only a couple of lighter moments.

If you want a highly entertaining example of a similar story, check out "The Lucky Ones."

The film runs 1 hour, 32 minutes, and was shot in El Paso, Texas, and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

GRADE: B-

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.

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.

A ponderous message-movie that is pretty-much all drama (there is very little "lite" here). The Dry Land is a story of an Iraq war vet returning home to rural western Texas to the loving arms of his wife (America Ferrera -- TV's "Ugly Betty", Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) only to realize he cannot make things "right" in his mind with what occurred on the other side of the world.

He meets fellow soldiers and friends and tries to make peace; but the film depicts the folly of war. None of the actors do a poor job on this film and the subject matter is important. The Dry Land is a film one hates to criticize or put-down as I am afraid the criticism will be misconstrued. My problem(s) with the film are not the war or the actors on the screen ... this is simply an "average film" from an un-proved director (this is Ryan Piers Williams' first full-length production).

Humans aren't made to be killing machines without something inside each of us changing. For a brief time, it felt as if this was going to be yet another retread of the Americanized version of the Danish film Brothers; but it eventually steered itself into a different direction which was good. Saying that -- there really isn't much else to discuss about this quiet film.

Like it's title suggests ... the story doesn't meander like a river -- it is just all-out and flat. There is an expanse of land to look at and take in -- and that is what this film is all about. Look at war. Look at its problems. Look at its "solutions". Look at us. Look ...