Review: ‘Civil War’ Doesn’t Quite Hit the Target

Civil War is a frightening vision of what America could become. Through the lens of a group of war photographers and journalists, director Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation) captures the horrors of a United States in the middle of a civil war. But why is this happening? And does the film’s logic make sense? The bigger question one might be considering is whether that is important from the perspective of the journalists at the forefront of the film. The only story left to capture in this hellscape is an interview with the president (Nick Offerman). From New York to Washington, D.C., they must traverse through cities filled with death and gun happy soldiers.  While Civil War is artfully shot with an ensemble worthy of the highest praise, the questions left unanswered distract from the enjoyment and understanding of Garland’s film. There are so many interpretations to be made with the lack of context we’re given that the director’s intentions get lost somewhere amid the chaos. 

Civil War opens with a claustrophobic close-up of the president practicing a speech to the American people. While he muses about his own military’s success, shots are intercut with riots and bloody images from ravished cities. The president is a fascist leader in his third term in office. There are no victories, but incomprehensible violence in the face of corrupt leadership. Garland chooses to confront the audience with what could happen rather than picking a side. This is America at its worst.  

Continuing from the opening scene, the film’s protagonist, photographer Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst), and her colleague Joel (Wagner Moura), head to a riot in New York City, where they meet Jessie Cullen (Cailee Spaeny) and witness a terrorist attack. The terrorist is a white woman holding an American flag. This is only a glimpse of what’s coming next in Civil War. The song choices are unsuitable for the film, particularly in this opening sequence. Since music isn’t an important aspect of any character, each drop feels as if Garland put it there because it sounded cool—it doesn’t work. Along with this, the film’s hyper realistic high-key lighting seems off-putting. Though this is an important element of the director’s style, the film would’ve worked better with shadows and dark frames.  

On their way to Washington, D.C., the journalists encounter a militia soldier (Jesse Plemons) and his partner. Smith is faced with the dilemma of confronting the men who “don’t want to be seen doing what they’re doing” or remaining behind the camera as an impassive spectator. The problem is that the soldiers have Jessie held hostage and a truckload of bodies to dump in a pit—someone is clearly going to die. The tension is palpable due to Plemons’ small but terrifying role. Audiences have no clue what side the soldiers are on; in fact, many of the soldiers blend in with each other. It’s near impossible to discern who is fighting for who in Civil War. In an America where soldiers shoot and don’t ask questions, Plemons, playing an absolute lunatic, plays into their fears and delivers the most memorable performance in the film.  

Besides the war itself making little sense, Civil War is decent enough to make up for its lack of logic. The journalists aren’t concerned with what each side is fighting for but with capturing the shot and letting others make the difficult decisions. There’s a lot to appreciate about Garland’s characters. As much as they try to survive, they know death may await them in D.C. The D.C. sequence is the most remarkable, anxiety-inducing piece of the film. It’s well worth seeing this film in IMAX to experience the full depth of the film’s warzone.  

Civil War is divisive; it’s unclear whether its faults are warranted or a cheap cop-out, but it sure is ambitious.  

3/5 STARS 

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Review: A Solid Outing in Hearts Beat Loud

This film was seen at the 44th Seattle International Film Festival. The film is now in wide release in Seattle.

The “indie” scene is full of heart warming dramas, catchy music, and well regarded actors who take on smaller scripts with the hope of tapping into human emotion. The scene is well populated and represented, but Hearts Beat Loud is perhaps the most outward facing, indie movie so far this year. The question is can the film break free from these notions that plague the indie scene? Well no, but it is a solid outing.

The film centers around Frank Fisher (Nick Offerman) and his daughter Sam (Kiersey Clemons). While Frank struggles with his vinyl record store Sam is preparing to head off to college in the fall. In the final months of their departure, Frank tries to savor what time they have left by making music, a hobby Sam reluctantly participates in. When Frank uploads one of their collaborations to Spotify and it becomes a hit, the two come at odds as Frank pushes for Sam to pursue her talents while she wants to move on.

What is the biggest issue is how contentious the father daughter relationship can be. Frank is a man who hangs onto the past, but he never seems to over come that. Instead the film finds resolve in compromise which doesn’t lead to a gratifying arc for either Frank or Sam. As Sam is going off to college to study pre-med, Frank is losing the lasting remnant of his wife who he sees in his daughter, and he attaches himself to her to prevent that loss. The following interaction between Sam and Frank doesn’t result in anything learned, but rather a consolation as Sam accepts her father’s dependency and desire to remain the same, doing so through their collaborative music. By the end of the film, you feel as if neither father nor daughter have changed all that much.

It’s even weirder when you consider how much push back Sam has to the initial jam session, but then acceptance immediately after the song finds success. The film sets itself up for Sam to resent the success of their song because she wants to be a heart doctor, but instead she leans into it and takes it on. The conflict in the film wants to come out of a mismatch between what Sam and Frank want, but it never communicates that. It is much more concerned with how both Sam and Frank find an equal footing between themselves in a father-daughter relationship, but unfortunately that theme isn’t all that gratifying.

Hearts Beat Loud is trying to communicate the acceptance of differences between father and daughter, but ends up with an unsatisfactory result. The mild mannered indie film is harmless enough, but you won’t find much beyond the performances of Offerman and Clemons. There’s nothing that completely derails the film, but it’s also nothing to write home about either.

Score: 3/5 Stars