Film review "War/Man Down" (2015)

Films about the display of post-traumatic syndrome in veterans of military conflicts are a popular topic in American cinema. And this is understandable, because the United States takes part in many wars, from which physically and spiritually broken people return. However, most films on this topic, like "Thank you for your Service" (2017) or "Billy Lynn's Long Walk ..." (2016), tell about the attempts of former military personnel to adapt to civilian life, while the creators of the film "Man Down" (2015) decided to focus on the psychological aspect of this issue. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the film was unrecognized by a significant part of the audience.

The original name "Man Down" is a phrase used by the military when someone is injured during combat operations. The analogue of this phrase in our latitudes has become "We have two hundredth". The distributors decided not to torment the audience with complicated military terms and translated the name simply as "War". It turned out to be a bit clumsy, because the film is not really about the war.

The plot of the film tells about a young military man, Gabriel Drummer. He has a beautiful wife, a son with whom Gabriel has a very close relationship, and a friend (and military colleague) named Devin. Gabriel is sent to war in Afghanistan, and after experiencing a lot of upheaval there, the main character returns home, finding his hometown in ruins...

From films like "Man Down", you need to know immediately what to expect in order not to feel cheated - this is a psychological drama. Although understanding this fact immediately exposes what the screenwriter tried to present as an unexpected plot twist. The story of the film is divided into specific episodes that jump back and forth in time. There is no sense of plot confusion in this case, but the scriptwriter failed to add a certain thoughtfulness to the story. Gabriel's story seems to be deep, philosophical and mundane, but something is missing. Nevertheless, it's interesting to watch the movie. The main episodes in the film can be distinguished: Gabriel in civilian life, Gabriel in training, Gabriel in the war, Gabriel communicates with a military psychologist, Gabriel wanders through post-apocalyptic America.

The cast turned out to be really stellar, but the main violin here is played by Shaya LaBeouf in the role of Gabriel Drummer. No matter what they say about the actor's mental state and the fact that the actor's career is going through difficult times, but this does not negate the fact that the actor really knows how to play. And here Shaya perfectly conveyed the emotions of a man broken by the war, who is no longer able to distinguish fantasy from reality. The final scene, where Gabriel holds his own family hostage, turned out to be very strong emotionally thanks to the performer of the main role.

Courtney, who infuriated with his presence in the Terminator films. Genesis" and "Die Hard 5" surprisingly fit seamlessly into "Man Down" as Devin. Kate Mara (Rooney Mara's sister) also did a good job as Gabriel's wife. Harry Oldman, as a military psychologist, seems to have jumped into this movie just to make some extra money.

There are shootouts in the film, they are generally not bad, but there are not many of them. But from a visual point of view, "Man Down" has certain problems. The picture in the movie looks cheap, and the landscapes of post-apocalyptic America are stylish, but clearly flat. It seems that most of the budget went to the actors' fees, but the visual part had to be saved.

In fact, the film looks like a product that should have been released immediately on television. Therefore, it is unclear why he was pushed into a wide cinema theatrical distribution, where he failed miserably. The Netflix channel would welcome this movie with open arms.

Overall, "Man Down" came out as a rather unusual film in the genre of psychological war drama. The movie is worth watching, but not everyone may like it. La dimension sociale du jeu est également prise en compte avec des fonctionnalités qui permettent de partager vos pronostics et de suivre les performances d'autres parieurs. Le code promo 1xbet cameroun qui vous offre 100% de bonus jusqu'à 130€ ou 1950€ avec 150 tours gratuits, vous intègre dans une communauté active de joueurs. Vous pouvez consulter les statistiques, suivre les tendances et échanger des conseils avec d'autres membres. Cette dimension sociale enrichit l'expérience de jeu et crée un sentiment d'appartenance à une communauté de passionnés, rendant chaque pari plus engageant et interactif.