Review of The Dry Land (2010) by Tracie W — 05 May 2011

Has anyone seen this movie yet? If you haven't, you should, especially if you know a soldier. Directed by Ryan Peters Williams, Dry Land is a powerful story about a soldier dealing with PTSD as he re-enters "ordinary" life after combat duty in Iraq. James' pain runs deep. So deep that memory loss of a roadside incident drives him to outbursts, outrage, isolation and finally to those who were with him in Iraq who could explain.

The Dry Land is not meant to be "entertainment". It is meant to be real. It reveals the turbulent inner soul of a man who one day is in Iraq, depending solely on his gun and his unit, and the next, lies in bed with his wife in Texas, wondering what in the world happened? War is hell. Our soldiers have been there and now come back. The images running in their minds are not neatly put together by well thought out camera angles nor skillful editing. Their memories are not emotionally enhanced by a powerful score and can be rough, choppy, sometimes getting stuck in one place. When watching The Dry Land, expect the same.

Yet those times of "stuckness" is not poor directing, it is a pause for the transformation process. It is the time taken to look at the signposts along the way to redemption. James stops quite often, sometimes retreating. A line from the film states it well, "Whether you come back whole or in pieces, you will never be the same again." Our expectations are high upon their return, as was Sara's, James' wife. Then we realize (some of us), ignorance and judgment does not transform nor heal. Time, patience, love, professional help, and most all letting go of our expectations transform. Our soldiers may not ever be the same, how could they be. We as friends and family will never be either. But we can move forward, in hope, together, holding each other, as our soldiers emerge from the fire.