It's hard to explain it. I grew up in the 1980s, and the previous decade seemed like a lifetime away. When I was seven or eight, I loved watching the A-Team, but I could never wrap my head around those guys being in the Vietnam War. I mean, if they were in their 30s or 40s, I guess that makes perfect sense, but the late 60s might as well have been the 19th century to my little kid brain.
Even when I was in college in the 1990s, I wondered why certain authors were bothering to write about Vietnam -- Tim O'Brien, or for the purposes of this film, Bobbie Ann Mason.
In Country is a movie that shows there was still something to be learned and discovered about the Vietnam War and the people that were still caught in its memory.
Samantha (Emily Lloyd) never knew her father. He was killed in Vietnam while her mom was pregnant with her. For that matter, her mom never really knew her husband. They were married for about four months when he was shipped off to Vietnam.
In the film, Samantha spends a bunch of time awkwardly running around. She's just an awkward runner. It looks like she can run, but why was she so awkward about it? I really spent quite a bit of time watching her flail her arms about, wondering if Emily Lloyd was doing that run on purpose as a way to "show" something about Samantha, or if she legit just didn't know how to control her arms when she ran.
Samantha is at the age when she needs to figure out what to do with her life. Will she go to college? If she stays in western Kentucky, her options are limited. She has a boyfriend but doesn't seem too keen on him. She ends up going to bed with a Vietnam Vet, but he can't perform. Why she wanted to go to bed with him is never really explained. I suppose she just liked him, but let's assume for a moment that this guy was approximately her dad's age. Just weird. That moment in the movie doesn't lead anywhere. Maybe just part of her flailing attempt to figure out who she is and who her father is. Vietnam Vets, including her uncle Emmett (Bruce Willis) won't tell her anything. She asks questions, but no one talks about their war experiences.
Eventually Samantha goes out to the woods and spends the night in a swamp. She's trying to get a sense of what it might have been like in Vietnam. This is the same woods that the film has already used to show a scene from Vietnam. That confused me, because it doesn't look very "Vietnam-like," but I'm guessing the use of this wood to represent Vietnam was intentional and not just done for limited budget reasons.
Some reviews found the movie rather boring. I don't think that's the right word. The movie does feel like it doesn't go anyway, really, but then again, neither do the characters in the film, including Samantha. They're all just kind of marking time.
Finally, Samantha, Emmett, and Samantha's grandma drive to Washington D.C. to visit the Memorial. They have a chance to see the name on the Wall. It's what the entire movie has been building towards. I think it's supposed to be poignant, cathartic, and meaningful. Honestly, it comes off as a bit flat. If this is the major climax of the movie, it's more molehill than mountain. And I hate saying that, but maybe it's the step along the way in the journey that they need so that they -- mainly Samantha -- can move forward.
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
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