The main problem with Lee’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is superficial, literally. It’s nearly impossible for a young man - especially one who’s dizzy and traumatized and being acted on by so many forces - to create a hierarchy of values.
But that voice fades next to flashbacks in which the soon-to-be-dead officer, “Shroom” (Vin Diesel), tells Billy about “the way of the warrior” and counsels him to find, in the face of fear, “something bigger than yourself.” Before they go into a deadly firefight, Shroom tells every one of his men, “I love you.” Their bond seems more sacred than Billy’s with his family. Billy’s sister, Kathryn, adds the fierce voice of the new anti-war movement. There’s the uneasy banter of men traumatized by the knowledge that the Iraqis they’d gone to save are all potential enemies - juxtaposed with the hollow platitudes of rich, pro-war Texans. Scary battle flashbacks sit side by side with garish showbiz salutes. It’s an amazingly packed setup - it has everything. And, with encouragement from his sister, Kathryn (Kristen Stewart), he prepares to leave his squad and announce he’s not going back to Iraq.
He goes gaga for a gorgeous cheerleader (Makenzie Leigh), who’s dazzled by his presence although too religious to do more than make out. While a consultant (Chris Tucker) negotiates to sell Hollywood the rights to the squadron’s story, Billy watches the game with his mates and then wanders the stadium. Two days before they’re scheduled to redeploy, the men arrive at the Dallas Cowboy’s stadium to appear in a halftime show - a patriotic hoo-ha - featuring Destiny’s Child. As the film begins, Bravo Squad is in the States for a Thanksgiving media tour, a victory lap at a time when the world is beginning to realize that the Iraq invasion was a mistake and that catastrophe looms. The action earned him fame and a Silver Star. It’s 2004, and the title character (Joe Alwayn) and his squadron, Bravo, have returned to Texas after an Iraq firefight that produced an iconic photo of Billy crouched over a mortally wounded officer, aiming a pistol at the enemy.
Joe Alwyn in Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.įew war movies have the stuff to be as far-reaching, angry, satirical, and genuinely tragic as Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, Ang Lee’s adaptation of Ben Fountain’s brilliant novel.
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