Kristin Reviews Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

Spoiler Alert: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk isn't really about a halftime walk. I mean, there's a football game with a halftime in it. And the movie is definitely long. But there is a bit of a disconnect between expectations based on the title and what you actually get when you watch the movie.

And this is too bad. Because a long halftime walk is exactly what the movie needed.

The movie tells the story of a young soldier – Billy Lynn, played by 25-year-old Joe Alwyn in his feature film debut – who returns from Iraq with his squad and embarks on a "victory tour" highlighting an act of heroism Lynn performed during a deadly firefight.

The film explores the dichotomy between the reality of war and the perception of war by those who are safe and far removed from its horrors. It also examines the bonds formed by men who face combat together and the idea of what it means to be a hero.

On the surface – and in the stirring preview – this sounds like the kind of "made-for-an-Oscar" movie that leaves not a dry eye in the auditorium as the credits roll. And Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk truly strives to be that. But it falls short.

And I think the reason for the falling is the structure of the narrative.

A long halftime walk that started at the beginning of the film and culminated in the halftime presentation – in the midst of which Billy Lynn and his fellow soldiers were directed to stand at attention while explosions and fireworks and chaos reigned around them – would have served as an outstanding frame for the flashbacks of the platoon's experiences overseas.

Instead the halftime walk and PTSD-inducing halftime show are only a fragment of a much longer, much more complicated story (one that features Kristen Stewart as Lynn's sister, which makes numerous scenes nigh unwatchable).

Stewart aside, I don't think the film needed to be that complicated.

The screenplay was based on a novel of the same name by Ben Fountain, and I imagine the story structure, additional characters, and B-stories probably worked just fine in book form. But it felt like the screenwriter (Jean-Christophe Castelli, who has no other screenwriting credits to his name) tried to pack too much of the novel into the film adaptation.

In this case, less would have been a lot more.

If Billy Lynn earns any nominations, I imagine they'll be for acting, but even that seems like a longshot. Director Ang Lee has won two Oscars already, so I think it's unlikely he'll receive a nod for this lesser achievement. If there's one award it should not be nominated for, it's Adapted Screenplay.

-Kristin
11.25.2016