It saddens me to say that writer/director Alex Garland is the biggest disappointment for me as a filmmaker. That’s because 10 years ago his movie “Ex Machina” was one of my favorites that year. I ended up seeing it three times in theaters (twice after the original press screening). After that he did “Annihilation” (Natalie Portman) which was disappointing. Then came “Men” with Jessie Buckley (see her in the best movie this year, Wicked Little Letters). “Men” was so bad, that all of us critics were laughing at how idiotic it was, as we shuffled out of the morning screening. Even the studio rep that was there admitted she didn’t know what the hell was going on with the story.
With Garland’s latest, “Civil War” there was a lot of buzz, and the trailers looked intriguing. We see Jesse Plemons, looking like a red-neck Proud Boy, pulling a gun on someone claiming to be an American, with him suspiciously asking, “What kind of American?”
His scene was one of the only good ones in the film. The only other things I liked was the cinematography (Rob Hardy) and choice of music (songs by the obscure band “Suicide” and a great tune by “De La Soul”).
A few of my friends asked, weeks before the movie, how California and Texas could possibly secede from the U.S. when the states are so different politically. Well, the movie won’t give answers to that, or many other things. We just know the U.S. is now a dystopian landscape of war.
Since we find out the President refuses to talk to the press (Biden?), and didn’t leave office and is on his third term, has bombed American citizens, and disbanded the FBI (Trump?), but…some will think it’s wise that Garland kept politics out of it. Others will be mad he didn’t take a stand. I read an interview where he said he wrote this movie because he was so angry about the state of politics.
Kirsten Dunst plays Lee, a famous war photojournalist. She is with a goofball journalist named Joel (Wagner Moura, playing it with a dash of Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem, and a sprinkle of dopeyness). They’re traveling from Manhattan to the White House, hoping to land an interview and photos with the embattled President (Nick Offerman, sans mustache). We see the country’s destruction along the way. A few passengers join them. Another journalist (Stephen McKinley Henderson), and a young buck named Jessie (Cailee Spaeny looking more like Ellen Page than Priscilla Presley). She idolizes Lee, and the crusty veteran wants nothing to do with her, and thinks it’s too dangerous for either of them to tag along. This won’t be a fun road trip where they stop at 7-11 for Slim Jims and shenanigans. They’ll see downed helicopters, and bad dudes in flannel shirts and guns running a gas station, with two guys hanging in the back that they’re torturing. There will be forests on fire, broken-down cars everywhere, and many people carrying guns – some in military fatigues, some in Hawaiian shirts.
Dunst is fine in the role. We can sense anger and worry, and perhaps some regret, in her facial expressions and gestures. Yet, the film is filled with so many cliches, I just didn’t care. The characters also didn’t seem to care about a lot, other than getting that award-winning shot.
Henderson is always great, and he plays the avuncular figure with a bit of warmth that’s needed for the tensions in the car.
We’re supposed to be so shocked by the images – people gunned down at an amusement park, while we still hear cheery music and see the bubble machine going out front; or a town seemingly untouched by the war. That means the women can do some clothes shopping. Oy.
So, will the cynical protagonist change and start to care about the young woman that wants to be just like her? Take a wild guess.
Surprisingly, nobody has different accents in the various towns. Also surprisingly, we never know who to root for when we see factions fighting. I’m sure that’s what the director was shooting for (no pun intended). But that just makes things feel repetitive.
The movie lacks focus, has underdeveloped characters, and it’s a story that’s weak, while straining credulity. It also has such a loud, disorienting amount of sound design (again, that’s exactly what the director was shooting for, but my ears started to bleed!).
1 ½ stars out of 5, and will be one of the most disappointing movies I see this year (again, that’s because of my love of “Ex Machina”).