I watched this right after watching "The Next Three Days" and being very impressed. To my surprise, I actually found this movie to be even better. Not only is it thrilling, suspenseful, and contains great acting and writing, but it deals with powerful issues that stick with you.
I found "The Next Three Days" To be surprisingly thoughtful for a thriller, but this movie even more so. I tend to not watch a lot of war movies and depressing films, even if they are good, because I'm not always in the mood for something depressing or sad, but this movie stays fun and entertaining, while slowly introducing important and deep issues that need to be addressed.
It's basically a suspenseful thriller, and a really good one at that, but as the movie goes along, you slowly appreciate what these boys went through in Iraq, the horrible things they saw, and the horrible effects it really has. The war may be in the Middle East, and they definitely see the worst of it, but the horrible effects come back home with the soldiers and affect us here as well.
I think this movie is rated unfairly low, because veterans, patriots, and conservatives write it off as liberal propaganda. It ends with a very controversial shot, but I love that Haggis had the balls to do this because it gave me even more to think about after the film was over.
The film is based on a true story and is actually very realistic, so anyone who writes it off as liberal or anti-America is in denial about the real issues and the fact that war is never a good thing. Sending young boys off to war is something that governments have always brainwashed their citizens to believe is a good thing and should be honored, when in reality it is horrible and tragic. This film makes that apparent, but does not make it the central plot of the film.
I really think Haggis is a brilliant writer who puts a lot of thought and effort into his writing. He is one of the best film-makers at creating movies that are fun to watch and entertaining, but also deal with important issues and leave you with something to think about.
I have recently watched "The Next Three Days" and "Crash" and this movie, all three of which were written and directed by Haggis, and although this has the lowest IMDb rating of the three, I personally thought it was the best of the three. In fact, I could easily put it as one of my favorite movies of all time. Crash deals with racism and has a clever script, but I find it to be less entertaining and more depressing. This movie deals with a depressing topic, but does not bog down the movie with sad moments, but instead leaves you to think about it at your leisure after the film is over.
If you haven't seen this movie, GO SEE IT! And I hope it eventually gets a higher rating like it deserves.
I found "The Next Three Days" To be surprisingly thoughtful for a thriller, but this movie even more so. I tend to not watch a lot of war movies and depressing films, even if they are good, because I'm not always in the mood for something depressing or sad, but this movie stays fun and entertaining, while slowly introducing important and deep issues that need to be addressed.
It's basically a suspenseful thriller, and a really good one at that, but as the movie goes along, you slowly appreciate what these boys went through in Iraq, the horrible things they saw, and the horrible effects it really has. The war may be in the Middle East, and they definitely see the worst of it, but the horrible effects come back home with the soldiers and affect us here as well.
I think this movie is rated unfairly low, because veterans, patriots, and conservatives write it off as liberal propaganda. It ends with a very controversial shot, but I love that Haggis had the balls to do this because it gave me even more to think about after the film was over.
The film is based on a true story and is actually very realistic, so anyone who writes it off as liberal or anti-America is in denial about the real issues and the fact that war is never a good thing. Sending young boys off to war is something that governments have always brainwashed their citizens to believe is a good thing and should be honored, when in reality it is horrible and tragic. This film makes that apparent, but does not make it the central plot of the film.
I really think Haggis is a brilliant writer who puts a lot of thought and effort into his writing. He is one of the best film-makers at creating movies that are fun to watch and entertaining, but also deal with important issues and leave you with something to think about.
I have recently watched "The Next Three Days" and "Crash" and this movie, all three of which were written and directed by Haggis, and although this has the lowest IMDb rating of the three, I personally thought it was the best of the three. In fact, I could easily put it as one of my favorite movies of all time. Crash deals with racism and has a clever script, but I find it to be less entertaining and more depressing. This movie deals with a depressing topic, but does not bog down the movie with sad moments, but instead leaves you to think about it at your leisure after the film is over.
If you haven't seen this movie, GO SEE IT! And I hope it eventually gets a higher rating like it deserves.