Civi War

For some reason yesterday Lisa said she wanted to see Civil War,  which is completely out of her comfort zone; had I suggested the film, she would have said no LOL. 

So off we went to the Avalon. No one else but our exchange student Laura wanted to go, so it was just the three of us. 

Civil War follows a quartet of journalists as they attempt to travel from New York city to Washington DC during the pivotal last days of a 2nd  American Civil War. With the front line approaching the capital, they are forced to take a circuitous route that brings them into contact with different factions, with each encounter showcasing the brutality of the war. 

I loved it. I'm not saying it was a "top ten all time" for me, or a Best Picture candidate, but I thought it was exceptionally well done. I've read several reviews, both from theater goers and professional critics lambasting the film as "weak" because it "wouldn't take a side." And, indeed, it doesn't, not in the way they want.

 The cause of the war is never discussed. The philosophy of each side is not mentioned, although each faction commits enough war crimes to kick start a new Nuremburg trial. In fact, one of the main protagonists, the Western Alliance, is the unlikely union of California and Texas. a clear and conscious decision by the filmmaker to divorce you from your everyday beliefs.. You don't know who is who; who to root for, who to despise, who identify as "us" or "them."

That's not weakness, that's brilliance. 

The movie doesn't want you to rehash your personal beefs in the the theater, to choose Fox or CNN, blue or red. It wants to warn you of what is inevitable if division and distrust is left unchecked. A future fueled by divisiveness brings hate, and violence, and once that is unlocked no one is immune from becoming a monster - remember, ALL sides in this story commit atrocities, not just one. 

The critics who cry about how the movie is organized aren't complaining about a film, they are bemoaning the fact that they couldn't scratch that itch, couldn't achieve that glorious, orgasmic high of pointing at someone else and saying "See?!?! I'm better than them."

The critics, in short, are outing themselves as the very kind of people who should have taken Civil War's lessons to heart. 

Grade: A