Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016)

[Plain Old Tele]

Discuss.

[Plain Old Tele]

I thought it was pretty good. It's not a brilliant masterpiece or anything, but it's well-made and very much an Ang Lee movie: a thoughtful, inward-looking examination and exploration of a soldier's experience, and how that changes you permanently (in both invisible and obvious ways). There are a few lines that were too on-the-nose for me, and some of the minor performances felt a little forced, but those are relatively minor complaints. All the principal actors were great.

 

I saw the 120fps/3D/4K version, and I thought it looked phenomenal. The war scenes felt extremely vivid. The clarity of the image was stunning, and it often felt like you were simply in a room with the characters. Some very very good quiet emotional moments where the format really shone. Lee made the choice to occasionally switch into first-person perspective and have characters look directly into the lens while they spoke: sometimes it really worked, other times not as much.

 

I think the movie's gotten a bad rap, and that's unfortunate. It's a solid, quiet little drama and I enjoyed it more than I expected to.

 

B/B+

[Webslinger]

In many ways, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is a lot to take in, and it mostly works despite the fact that so many elements are competing for attention. Thematically, the title character's arc is mired in satire that tries to cover every nuance of political thought on the War on Terror circa 2004. Tonally, the film veers between drama and comic relief so fast that it may cause whiplash. Visually, the hyper-realistic presentation is eye-popping, but sometimes an extremely odd choice (hi, incredibly awkward shots of Steve Martin so clear and close that you can practically see his nose hairs!). And yet, despite all of these contradictions that threaten to unravel Ang Lee's latest films, it's a fascinating and mostly effective film that hums more than enough to make up for the instances in which it falters. To the film's credit, it does an admirable job of capturing the full range of the American public's feelings about the War of Terror around the time that Bush's re-election confirmed that it wouldn't go away any time soon, and the filmmakers follow through on their commitment to satirize the strengths and weaknesses of the pro-and-anti-war crowds. It feels at once bitterly cynical and naively optimistic, but this "have your cake and eat it too" approach feels appropriate in the face of satire that reaches far enough to both skewer Billy Lynn's malleability in the face of some authority figures and open defiance of others. Unfortunately, as a character, Billy feels like a bit of a cipher; he seems to exist mostly for the purpose of acting as a satirist to guide the film's exploration of a variety of attitudes about the War on Terror, so his growth feels a bit rushed. To that end, newcomer Joe Alwyn is solid, but doesn't really get any moments to shine. Rather, his co-stars do the heavy lifting on the acting front, although many of them get only limited screen time thanks to the barrage of competing elements on the film's satirical agenda. The only supporting member who gets a truly adequate amount of screen time is Garrett Hedlund, who gives a career-best performance as the gruff staff sergeant; he's commanding in a role that affords him an opportunity to show greater screen presence than ever before. Vin Diesel is also near the very top of his power in an all-too-brief role as Billy's main mentor in the war; his performance here is handily the most human one he has ever given, and it deserves more attention than the few scenes that make the final cut. Steve Martin and Chris Tucker make the most of limited screen time; each performance had me wishing that each actor would appear in more movies. However, the true standout - who absolutely needs more than just the five or so minutes afforded to her - is Kristen Stewart. Even with such a small part, Stewart is so crushingly authentic that leaves a crater-sized impact; it will be difficult for viewers to take their eyes off of her here, and it speaks to just how comfortably she fits into naturalistic acting now that she has been freed from the tethers of the huge Twilight role with which she never appeared truly comfortable. While the film as a whole is problematic enough that it ranks among the least of Ang Lee's filmography, it's not quite a miss, but rather an intriguing case of many disparate elements coming together to produce a whole that - while far from perfect - is at least fascinating to watch and discuss for the sake of the pieces that do work.

 

B

 

Stray observations:

 

1.) I feel like I'm in a tiny minority here, but I really would like to have seen it in 120fps, and I hope that filmmakers continue to play with higher frame rates despite the pushback that this film and the Hobbit trilogy received. Perhaps I'm just used to the effects of high frame rate from having a TV with a motion rate of 120 (although it was definitely jarring at first, and still takes me aback for the first five or so minutes of each movie I watch on it), but I'm really curious to see what talented directors can do with a hyper-realistic setting and a complete and total lack of motion blur. Seeing something shot in 120 displayed at 24 looked quite awkward in spots.

 

2.) Seriously, K-Stew absolutely kills it here. There's not a chance in hell - even with such rules revised in light of the fact that Donald Trump's election means that the inhabitants of hell are certainly enjoying their eleven-days-old ice rink - that she'll get any awards attention thanks to how brief it is and how badly the film has bombed financially, but it's the best use of such small screen time since Rooney Mara's jaw-dropping several minutes in The Social Network.

[Plain Old Tele]

@Webslinger, you should turn off the motion rate or whatever it's called on your TV. Having an algorithm interpolate new frames on the fly doesn't really have much upside at all. 

[Webslinger]

1 minute ago, Nutella of Arabia said:

@Webslinger, you should turn off the motion rate or whatever it's called on your TV. Having an algorithm interpolate new frames on the fly doesn't really have much upside at all. 

 

Meh, I'm too used to it at this point. 

[Plain Old Tele]

Just now, Webslinger said:

 

Meh, I'm too used to it at this point. 

 

 

[baumer]

I liked it a lot too.  I enjoyed a bit more than Tele and I thought it had a lot of really introspective and provocative things to say about war and America's view on the war.  

 

8.5/10

[Blankments]

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is certainly a fascinating film. It is so clearly Ang Lee's film in a rare revealing way. The film's flaws are equally parts of its strengths. He directs the film in a simultaneously visceral and distant way that might leave audience members wanting more, but that really isn't that big of an issue.

 

The lead actors are all very good. Alwyn gives the rare (for these days) debut performance that works in every sense, drawing emotion into silence, and making little moments matter. Diesel makes the most of his small role, exuding warmth in every moment. The highlight acting-wise is Hedlund though, whose character is just as easy to empathize with as Lynn's, despite the film not being focused on him. However, the side actors in the film are actively bad in a surprising way, that sometimes distracts from the actual story.

 

The war scenes are alright, but the true greatness of the film comes from its themes of reality vs. cinema, rarely explored this well in the modern era. Lee is saying a lot with that, along with other themes of love and the price of war. It's a very cryptic film, somewhat hard to decipher at points, which makes it worth viewing.

 

Technically, the film excels. The cinematography is fairly exquisite (Disclaimer: I didn't see it in 120FPS), but there is an odd trend of characters talking directly to the camera that gets annoying after a few instances. The Dannas' score is underused, but when heard, combines their ethereal style with some Texas twang in an unusual sense. The editing, particularly in montages, is impressive too, adding momentum to otherwise dull sequences.

 

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is flawed. The acting is hit-and-miss and there are moments that just leave obnoxious confusion. Yet, overall, it's a walk worth taking thanks to Ang Lee's intriguing exploration of magnificent themes and strong lead acting. Seek it out if you must. B