Dramatic and intense

When the title of the movie clearly states the outcome of the plot, you expect a complete waste of 121 minutes with little suspense or worthy action.

But in the case of Lone Survivor, this couldn’t be more wrong. There’s enough to keep you on the edge of your seat with your chest thumping throughout.

For those not familiar with the story, Lone Survivor is based on the true story and book with the same name written by Marcus Luttrell, who is the lone survivor of a failed 2005 mission in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of 19 Special Operation forces.
 
The film portrays plenty of raw emotion and gives viewers a great insight into the relationship between soldiers, especially in an unexpected and extraordinary situation.

Director Peter Berg has had his fair share of terrible movies, but this time around he knows exactly what he wants to do. He wants to make the audience feel just as uncomfortable as these men felt at war. He develops a sense of place and then dumps the audience into it … leaving them bloody.

Every scene in this movie is dramatic, intense and transports you into the experience. Fair enough, you may not be able to imagine the pain, the suffering and the trauma these soldiers went through, but the viewing experience is an upsetting, disturbing and particularly violent one.

The film does have its fair share of pro-America patriotism, though, where many scenes were dramatised to suit. There’s one particularly sentimental scene, without giving away too much, where it portrays Afghani villagers standing up to the Taliban in defence of the American good guy. In reality, would they really risk their families becoming Taliban targets?

But, then again, this movie is an apology to the families of those who lost their lives. These four soldiers are American heroes … it’s this exact mushiness that sells and helps make such an emotional film.

The lack of communication in this film left me frustrated throughout. First the soldiers lose contact on their radios, then on the only phone they have, and then, while I was left hanging on the edge of my seat, Marcus Luttrell asks a young Afghani boy for help and to get him a knife … and instead he gives him a duck! I sympathise with Luttrell as I cannot even imagine how that must have felt like if I was actually there.

The film opens with real-life sequences of the SEAL training regimen, where then it quickly goes into the main plot and follows Luttrell (Wahlberg) and his three fellow SEALs, LT Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch) and Mattew Axelson (Ben Foster) on the Red Wing Mission. They must find and take down Taliban leader Ahmad Shah.

While they land in Afghanistan and set up surveillance in the mountainous region, they realise that the Taliban forces are much larger than they thought.

Not long after, three goat herders stumble across the four men and their mission is compromised. They must now make the difficult decision of how to proceed. Do they kill these three goat herders, of which one is a young boy and the other a teenager, or release them and face the risk that they will rush to the enemies below and alert them of their presence?

Sticking to the rules, they release the herders and the four men suddenly find themselves in battle and totally outnumbered!

This is when the real gasps and screams come from the audience, as not only do you view them battle through a series of painful stumbles, falls, explosions and jumps, but they are also exposed to the real heart of the film.

These men have no communication and they have no help. For about an hour and a half of action, they are in battle … alone … with hundreds of Taliban opponents attacking.

And, as you may have guessed it, they all die except one … Luttrell, who lives to tell the story of what happened in Afghanistan.

The A-list cast was superb. Even in the smallest of roles, the actors were carefully selected to reinforce the talent this movie has to offer. Eric Bana as Lieutenant Commander Erik S. Kristensen and Jerry Ferrara as Sergeant Hasslert, have a combined 20 minutes of movie time, but their presence ensured that even in the dramatic moments away from battle, it was equally effective.

The main boys, Wahlberg, Kitsch, Foster and Hirsch, each carried their character’s personality perfectly. The relationship between these soldiers is excellent and the viewers are able to see which is the father figure, the young and misguided one, the lost and confused one and the one who needs all the help he can get.

Foster will really leave a mark on the audience from one of the most unforgettable scenes, but it’s Wahlberg who proves that once he’s given a great script with an even better plot, he can give a genuine performance. This is definitely one of his best in years.

Lone Survivor may have you leaving the theatre feeling uncomfortable, but it’s definitely a must-see. With incredible emotion, acting and direction, this film could well be on its way to win many more awards.

* Showing in Cineco, Al Jazeera Cineplex, Seef I, Saar Cineplex