[yasr_overall_rating]
Two young soldiers, Bartle (21) and Murph (18), navigate the terrors of the Iraq war under the command of the older, troubled Sergeant Sterling. All the while, Bartle is tortured by a promise he made to Murph’s mother before their deployment.
Most war films have had something powerful to show or say about the hardships of war, the mental struggles of being a soldier, or just the bonds being made by other people. “The Yellow Birds” attempt to do these things yet not in a unique way. It is a shame too because this is written by someone I admire deeply in David Lowery, who is a Dallas filmmaker. I will not say anything about him for it wasn’t entirely all his fault for what happened to this film.
For starters, the way this story moves it is like a puzzle that is just missing a bunch of pieces. I don’t know exactly where everything got lost in translation. If I had to guess though, it was the edit of this film. What has me dumbfounded is how this film attracted such a group of star power. I will say it is nice to see Jennifer Aniston doing something different than what she is known for. However, even a group of talented well-known actors couldn’t save this film from being mundane.
I will say that what this movie does have that makes it stand out somewhat, is its cinematography. There are many haunting images that are given this feeling of a painting of war. I think if they would have tried to take more of a visual way of storytelling, this could have had more depth to it or at least be more interesting. With a lack of complexity to the characters and a feeling of missing pieces, the cinematography just gives a flashy car intent rather than have motivation, at least to its full effect.
At the end of it, if you like war films, I’m sure you will garner some value in this story. However, if you look for something more, this film does not offer that. It sadly just falls in the crowd of other modern war films of today. I watched this only a week ago and I have mostly forgotten about it, it just doesn’t leave you thinking about it.
Available on Blu-ray™ (plus Digital), DVD, and Digital HD August 14th
