Hollywood's new mandate: Bring the Iraq war home
A brace of films about US foreign policy star big names such as Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Reese Witherspoon, and Jamie Foxx. But will that be enough of a draw for war-weary viewers?
from the September 28, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Peter Suderman, associate editor of "Doublethink" and blogger at theamericanscene.com, condemns "Elah" in the National Review Online for being a "lame-brained slam against soldiers." Mr. Suderman predicts Brian DePalma's "Redacted," which depicts US soldiers on a gory rampage, will be "activist screed." He's not against antiwar films, but finds the current crop too polemical. "It's sort of absurd to think a fairly large-budget Hollywood film will stop the war."
Not that James Strouse, writer-director of "Grace is Gone," wanted to march on Washington. Oddly, Strouse says, "both sides" found problems with his drama about a father (Cusack) struggling to tell his daughters that their mother has been killed in Iraq. "The left wanted more outrage and more indictment, and the far right [had] anxiety that it's another liberal agenda."
In the question of whether Hollywood can sell its antiwar agenda, perhaps the issue isn't liberal versus conservative, but earnest versus escapist. "Audiences would rather see something fun and nonconfrontational," writes Sean P. Means, movie critic for the Salt Lake Tribune, via e-mail. "Movies about serious topics usually become hits only after critics praise the film and awards are handed out."
It might be naive to think blockbuster films can change the nation. But movies can reflect a growing sentiment, or help focus a vague sense of disgruntlement. "Having respected institutions check in on this makes a huge difference," notes Mr. Richardson of Military Families Speak Out.
But Hollywood may not be the most reliable of institutions to serve as a national conscience. Movies are a business first, a harbinger second. Which might explain why, even with the participation of an Academy-Award winning director (Paul Haggis) and three Oscar-winning actors (Jones, Theron, and Susan Sarandon), "In the Valley of Elah" has not yet had a wide release.
"We still see the timidity," Richardson says, "until they run it up the flagpole and see who salutes."
At least one viewer, Marina Mihalakis of Portsmouth, R.I., found the antiwar statement of "In the Valley of Elah" "big" and "brave." "It gave substance to what is people's vague notion of what is going on," she says.
But she didn't see the film as changing hearts or minds. As for her Republican friends, she doesn't think they'd respond well. "If people are for the war and they see this film it's going to [upset them]."
Not the kind of agitation Hollywood is banking on.
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