Review of Ithaca (2015) by James H — 19 Sep 2016

"Ithaca" does for the homefront what Malick's "The Thin Red Line" did for the frontlines. Meg Ryan's directorial debut also succeeds where Angelina Jolie failed so dramatically in "Unbroken." She captures the sense of an era and makes very trenchant observations about a young man and a culture that is not yet able to understand what they are about to be immersed in: World War II.

I ended up being quite impressed by Ryan's directorial aptitude, since it is a cliche that every actor/actress thinks they have the knack for directing, but Ryan actually does. The newly-written John Mellencamp score adds much to the atmosphere.