Lone Survivor: Go See It.

Andy over at Ace of Spades has a fabulous review of Lone Survivor.

There’s spoilers there, and here’s the deal:  It’s like Titanic.

The boat sinks.

Spoiler in this movie:  They all die except Marcus.

And they kill a whole lot of Taliban riff-raff along the way.

Anyway, Andy does a magnificent job on a magnificent movie.

I saw the movie last week.

I was reluctant to watch it as I figured it would be like Saving Private Ryan was at  the end.  In that movie, I might have wept like a little schoolgirl at the end, just like everyone else in the theater that day.  They should have issued Kleenex at Saving Private Ryan.

Lone Survivor wasn’t as intense as that, but it was still emotional at the end.

Read his review.  It’s superlative and spot on in every respect.

Ace of Spades

The film in one word: Intense

My Moron recommendation: 5 Ewoks. It’s a must-see!

But first some background, in order to properly frame the review.

I first met Marcus Luttrell in 2008. We brought him up to Boston for a fundraiser for my son’s autism school, which had just moved to a much larger location. Funds were critical to getting it up and running, with the big auction item at the event being naming rights to the playground that was on the drawing board.

I didn’t really think the tie-in would work that well – it’s Boston not Beaumont, and what does a Navy SEAL’s experience have to do with working with kids with autism anyway? – but, hey, the book was a best-seller at the time and the school was founded by a Navy brat, so what the hell?

The house was packed to listen to Marcus speak, and speak he did, relaying the tale of the lone survivor. Hearing him tell the story in person, at points pantomiming an imaginary M4 in his hands as he’s describing the firefight, made a lasting impression on everyone in the room including my little brother, now a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army, who I brought up from Georgia to meet Marcus.

Before the program started we talked a little about the movie, which was just at the concept stage at that point. Marcus was concerned that any movie wouldn’t do justice to his teammates and the story. It took nearly 6 years from then, and the film went through fits and starts of casting and funding, but the ultimate outcome couldn’t have been a better tribute to the memories of his fallen brothers.