Review of Hacksaw Ridge (2016) by Loveeland — 03 Apr 2017

I had pretty low expectations for this movie but my friends continued to urge me to see it, saying it is better than Saving Private Ryan and Lone Survivor. While to me it wasn't really that close to those two movies, it was overall an enjoyable film well worth the watch.

The acting is corny and makes me cringe. This is probably the worst part about the film. Andrew Garfield's attempt at a backwoods Appalachian accent is like trying to watch Fallon do a Trump impression (you may think he does a good job, if so you'll probably think more highly of this film than I do). Vince Vaughn makes a funny sergeant but at times doesn't do a good job of really selling the part. Most of the characters give off corny one liners all the time, and whether it be due to writing or plain acting, I thought it was pretty poor.

The story was very good. While much of the first half of the movie focuses on Doss' home life, love life, and then boot camp, it keeps you entertained the whole way. The second half of the movie I found to be quite entertaining and actually surprised me with its elements of realism in terms of combat. It's certainly up there with Saving Private Ryan in terms of gruesomeness (which is expected from a WWII film) and overall war depiction. The movie actually somewhat inspired me. While it did not live up to my friends' rave reviews, I did think it was certainly worth the watch, if nothing else than just to learn the story.