|
|
DANGER CLOSE
Director: Kriv Stenders Cast: Travis Fimmel, Nicholas Hamilton, Luke Bracey, Alexander England, Daniel Webber, Matt Doran, Stephen Peacocke, Anthony Hayes, Richard Roxburgh MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:58 Release Date: 11/8/19 (limited) |
|
Review by Mark Dujsik | November 7, 2019 Outnumbered and surrounded, a company of Australian and New Zealand soldiers try to survive an assault in Danger Close. Director Kriv Stenders' dramatization of a true story from the Vietnam War features a cast of nearly interchangeable actors yelling, running, crouching, and shooting, while the filmmaker attempts to make their characters into more than anonymous figures on a battlefield. The movie never accomplishes that goal and, in a way, doesn't even try until two characters, who had been disagreeable to each other, reveal that they have lives beyond the military. It's much more effective as a portrayal of the utter confusion of combat. The extended firefight here, in which assorted platoons are separated and/or pinned down by a couple thousand North Vietnamese soldiers, does convey the chaos and horror—in the forms of explosions and young men falling like lifeless dolls where they stand—of this battle. Stenders also ensures that we understand the strategy of it, through the simple combination of a map and intercutting (cutting from pins on a map to the soldiers in position). The apparent helplessness is emphasized by the constant rush of enemy soldiers, announced by a bugle call, through the haze and obscured view of the forest. On a technical level, then, the movie mostly works (although the effects—from some unconvincing computer-generated aircraft, to artillery fire that doesn't seem to impact the trees, to actors clearly being pulled by wires to replicate being tossed by explosions—aren't always effective). The screenplay, penned by no fewer than five writers, assumes that we'll connect with characters who barely live up to archetypes and who mostly spout assorted war-movie clichés. The primary character is Major Harry Smith (Travis Fimmel), who's tough, vain, and seemingly uncaring about the lives and safety of his men. Leading his company on what should be an uneventful patrol following a mortar attack on their base, the major and his soldiers start taking fire, begin running out of ammunition, and realize that the higher-ups aren't too keen to risk any more soldiers or equipment on a hopeless cause. Smith, obviously, reveals that he does care, and going against direct orders, the men of the company and others at the base rise up to save their comrades. It's broadly inspirational material, which is fitting for Danger Close, which exclusively paints with broad narrative strokes. Copyright © 2019 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
Buy Related Products Buy the Soundtrack (Digital Download)
|
(for
sequences of war violence, and language throughout)
