I watched Lone Survivor last night with one of the guys from church. Rarely have I had the opportunity to hang out with anyone from church, so it was refreshing to grab dinner and go watch a movie. Lone Survivor lived up to the hype and was an intense movie worth seeing. As the men engage in combat, you feel and cringe with every blow and wound inflicted upon the SEALS body. Though I am not very patriotic, the movie definitely deepens my respect for those who serve in combat roles overseas.
While I really enjoyed the movie, the one aspect I left disappointed in was the portrayal of the bond between the men. In the trailer as well as in the movie, the brotherhood established between the Navy SEALS is referred to numerous times. In some ways, I went in with expectations, longing to see men have a deep bond and connection that can only be achieved by undergoing similar extreme experiences. However, as the movie unfolded, we were aware that the men were close, but rarely do they express that bond. It felt as though the men still played up the importance of being tough and strong, over expressing the love and care between them and their fellow SEALS. Perhaps it was a realistic portrayal, but for me, as you see the men slowly dying, the weight of the loss and the characters didn’t transfer over to me. In comparison, in movies such as End of Watch, the death of a brother was so heavy that it brought me to tears. I don’t know, perhaps I am just unrealistic. In Lone Survivor, “We’re good right?” is as close to an expression of care we see expressed between the men through out the whole film. Don’t get me wrong, it was an excellent film, loved every minute of it… I just really feel as though if anyone went through the experiences those men went through, the level of closeness would be far deeper and would overcome the barriers of acceptable “manly” behavior than portrayed in the film.
stay strong sojourner 