War Stories

USA • 2009 • 113m •

• Directed by: Lee M. Whitman. • Starring: Chelsea Anders, Mark Ayesh, Samantha Booth, Gene Bowen, Martin Boyle, Isaac Cervantes, Michael Brenton Gordon, Kristy Gottlob, Sara Hammond, Tom Mason, Jayne McNeny, Eric Metz, Alan Peil. • Music by: Alan Gaffere, Nathan Whitman.

For Tim Curtright, life in his quiet Kansas hometown seems boringly ordinary. For Tim, his gay best-friend, Austin, and girlfriend, Laura, life consists as a series of school projects, dances, and the occasional party. While working on a research project for school, Tim is stunned to discover his father didn't die in the Gulf War as he had previously been led to believe. With his mother, the local community, and a mysterious FBI Agent standing in the way, can Tim and his friends break through a generation of lies and secrets and discover what really happened to his father? A thrilling, mysterious, and provocative adventure, War Stories challenges viewers to ask themselves, just how well they know their family's past.

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Review:

The plot was well written and delivered. I didn't have the plot figured out until the end when the truth about what happened to Tim's father was revealed. Most of the script was very well written and the cinematography conveyed the mood of the characters near perfectly. The music and sound added to and carried the mood in a way I didn't expect for a low-budget production. This part of the film went above and beyond my expectations. The actor who played Austin (Mark Ayesh) was great; he was very believable and comfortable in his role. He definitely has a future in acting. Besides the carefully orchestrated plot and the cinematography, this film's value is mainly tied up in its statement of and protest against the bigotry and closed-mindedness of Midwestern culture (the Bible belt), which was for the most part well executed. To really understand the conversation between the ex-journalist and Tim, you'd have to live in Wichita and read the local news (or lack thereof). These aspects of the movie were nearly perfect.

The actor who played Tim (Michael Gordon) was alright. In the beginning, he seemed uncomfortable and awkward, but after a little character development (about 13 of the way through the movie), he settled into his role. By the end, it was easy to believe his emotions. I would like to see him in another movie.

Now to my complaint (one really big one). The actress who played the mother (Danielle Wolverton) was absolutely abhorrent. What sucked about her horrible acting is that her character is so pivotal to the plot and to the emotions and motivations of the other characters. The entire plot hinges on her blind bigotry and psychosis and the effects of her actions on the main character, and she failed miserably at delivering any of these emotions. Anyone who thinks that her acting was anything but dry and insipid has both not seen enough movies (independent or mainstream), and has not had to deal with any true emotional conflict in their own lives. She monotonically delivered all of her lines with comically false embellishment. I almost laughed out loud during the scene when she asked Tim if he was on drugs; what a joke! She ruined all of the emotionally tense scenes in which she was involved, which was a big part of the movie.

However, the last about half of the movie (from the chase through downtown Wichita to the meeting in Oklahoma City) when she was not present was very good.

All in all, it was worth the watch. It did hit home for some of us who have lived in the Midwest for our entire lives and have not agreed with many of the politics of the region. With a different actress playing the mom, this would have easily been an 8 to 9 out of 10 stars for me. To the creators of this movie, I hope you do a better job of screening your actors and actresses before you begin shooting. This was really the only downfall to this film. Good luck and I hope to see your next production.

Review by Paul Collado from the Internet Movie Database.

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