Reviews

A boyish Iraq war veteran has returned home to his beautiful wife who seems on the surface to have grown weary of him. But, not all is as it appears in this quick study of PTSD. There is nary a waking moment when this young soldier isn't processing his combat experiences. She is drifting away from him yet prompts him to take his medication which he has been avoiding. She is going out for the evening with a girlfriend to a costume party, dressed as an angel---with wings, both girls in fact have donned the wings. This is important. He has been invited, but, has declined and this declination seems to be a crux for the young woman. Watch for it.

One must view this several times to glean what is being said, by whom, and what it means. It's there, in rapid snippets of film & sound. The kid only gets one chance to view it, hear it and then act upon what he has heard and what he is to see. By then, he has glued his eyes shut, pried open one with pliers and ordered a taxi for the drive out to the party.

I'll keep it on the shelf for quick viewings. It's worth it.

Are the cab ride early on as Bob tries to convince Lulu that the affair can work. She is near hysterics, inconsolable and bolts the cab on into an absolute deluge of rain. He follows, literally begging her to reconsider. She's adamant, won't be swayed and leaves Bob on a park bench (thoroughly vanquished) in the rain, as it rivets down the bill of his hat and onto his overcoat. And get this: the scene stays tracked as Lulu retreats into the rain and disappears. Capra holds it steady, seconds pass, how many? More than enough for me. Lulu returns out of the mist, returns to Bob and the tragedy advances.

The second scene for me is the scene where Lulu murders her husband (Bellamy) in cold blood. All the frustrations wrought upon Lulu, all the settling, all the denial, all the hatred (for marrying him) is loosed upon Bellamy here. The first two shots (mid chest height) surely kill this man, the fact that Lulu goes ahead and empties the pistol into him to requisite clicks on empty chambers with that look of utter contempt only Stanwyck could display exposes the wounded Lulu in bitter truth.

It reminds one of the ending scene in "The Last Gangster" where Edward G. Robinson stops his adversary's stated vow to ruin Robinson's sons bright future thru scandalous charges. Robinson simply counters this stoic threat with the words: "no you won't" and proceeds to empty a pistol into him.