While Ang Lee’s take on America’s involvement in Iraq isn’t quite “Bored on the Fourth of July” it’s maudlin work from such an accomplished director.
Not to suggest that the Iraq war is past its sell-by date, or that there is nothing of value left to be said on the subject, but so many filmmakers have visited and revisited the idea from so many different perspectives by this point in time it’s difficult to see what Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk has to say that hasn’t been said before and said better.
The film follows the eponymous Billy Lynn’s Bravo Company on game day of the Super Bowl as they prepare for their halftime show appearance in recognition of a valiant act. As the day goes on we learn more about the company’s hopes of a film deal service of their newly appointed agent (played by Chris Tucker) and what occurred during the famous firefight which claimed the life of their staff sergeant (played by Vin Diesel).
But Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk would probably prefer you to notice something else before you notice its story, that being the way in which it was shot. Director Ang Lee conducted somewhat of an experiment with Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by filming it in 120 frames per second, well over doubling the record set by Peter Jackson’s Hobbit films. If you’re unfamiliar with how frame rate effects film: in the simplest terms, the higher the frame rate the greater the amount of information being captured and displayed thus (theoretically) creating a much more realistic image.
If all of that sounds boring or just terrible to you I really wouldn’t be too concerned because only six theatres in the entire world are capable of displaying the film in this format.
In the interest of full disclosure I should admit that attempting to view one of The Hobbit films at 48 frames per second prompted one of the very few mid-screening walkouts of my life but I am not one of the chosen few to have viewed Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk in its purest, intended, form having seen it at the standard 24 frames per second. Reports from 3D screenings in 120 frames per second have been quite lukewarm and I have to say that without this glossy exterior what lies beneath Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is not very much at all. It is a film caught consistently, and hopelessly, out of time.
One of its most irksome flaws is its own self-awareness, which is usually something that works in a film’s favour but is handled here with as much grace and delicacy as its emotional and political sentiments. Watching Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is akin to being repeatedly hit in the face with a shovel that has the word “subtlety” written on it.
It is a film perpetually impressed with its own profundity but completely lacks the required perspective to make anything it’s saying affecting. It almost constantly asks you to view it as not only a film but a film which does right by its subjects and tells you something true, something human, which makes a connection with you and if this film had spent half as much time on its dialogue and performances as it did on trying to dazzle you then that may have been the case.
Its protagonist is a blank slate and every single one of its supporting characters is a caricature. Chris Tucker’s agent provides a truly groan-worthy moment when he sincerely pledges that the company’s (entirely fictional) story will be told right even if he has to go all the way to China (one of the film’s co-investors) and all you can think about is how far this film travelled just to produce a piece of overly simplistic Hollywood fluff that never feels fully in touch with its satirical roots.
Another proponent of higher frame rates, James Cameron, has talked about how the method is designed to remove the window which separates the audience from the world of the film but Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is a clear demonstration of how works of fiction are improved by an awareness of their own fourth walls. If you find yourself hoping that at some point the film will break through into a new level of awareness, one that encompasses its shooting style which makes everything look like an Adam Sandler film, then you should know that you’ll leave the theatre wanting. There are quite a fair number of cheap tricks employed throughout the film, not too far removed from the ones used in the early days of 3D’s modern revival, to force you to notice it being creative. But like an overly sequined jacket, or a face with too much makeup on it, all you really notice is how much it wants you to notice it.
At times it feels like Pixar made a war film, it’s glossy and bright and clean but critically devoid of the depth and intricacy that feel worthy of its themes. As a film regarding an inherently political topic, which has shaped so many people’s lives, it is quite simply too little too late. Mostly, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk comes across as a simpler film from a simpler time in which less was understood about the commercial aspects of war, post traumatic stress disorder or the war in Iraq in general. A time when it was enough to just be bright, satisfying and a little distrusting of smarmy Texas oil tycoons.
This doesn’t make the film bad so much as it makes it a very opulent exercise in mediocrity. It’s not without its occasional charm, particularly from the company’s leader Garrett Hedlund, but all of its numerous attempts at spiritual wisdom fall with a loud thud.
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk will be released in select UK cinemas on February 10th.
