I Cried Me a River

"Sometimes all it takes is a split second for you to do something you'll regret the whole rest of your life."

So last night, Matthew and I stayed up into the wee hours watching a movie called, The War (starring Elijah Wood and Kevin Costner). It's rated PG-13 probably for its heavy theme of the Vietnam war (lthough it's not a film about the war and has a good dose of comic relief to lighten heavy scenes) and for language (the kids pack the A and S-bomb a good half dozen times a piece).
The story takes place in the poor town of Juliette, Mississippi and centers around a father who has returned from Vietnam, and his difficult cope with post-traumatic stress syndrome, getting a job and helping his two kids learn how to stand up to bullies. The story is a narrative (but not completly like Flipped was) told through the eyes of the oldest daughter, Lidea. While the story is told through her point of view, it focuses mostly around her younger brother.

This movie, without giving away much, isn't your typical, "Fight them bullies, you young varmit!!" film. Rather, the logic the father teaches his kids can be taken from I Corinthians 13; John 15:13; Luke 6:29. It got a little anti-war at times for my taste but the truth is, the aftermath of war on a person is very destructive. And I had to walk away admitting, even though self defense is VERY important, if a situation can be handled with unconditional love instead then that is the route in which we should ultimately travel.

I'm going to be honest this movie is a real tear-jerker, as are most coming-of-age-in-the-South films out there. With that said, I will agree with one Netflix viwer who posted: "I will grant that it attempts no subtlety in philosophizing, and at times borders on preachiness, but yet the characters are engaging as is the story. It's a beautifully shot, well-acted period film...I gave it 4 stars only because the sentimentality was a bit overdone at times. Yet if you can forgive that, you will enjoy this movie." In other words, sometimes the sappiness was overdone especially towards the end of the film. But that didn't stop me from enjoying it and feeling as if I walked away with some good values in the end--that rarely happens in Hollywood fluff these days.

Above it all, this movie drove a point home in my heart (without intending to) that I just want to cherish every moment with the ones I love most. Over the past few months, I've noticed that time passes...and there really isn't anything we can do to make it slow down or go back. When the moment is gone--it's gone. When people are gone--people are gone and there is no seeing them again until we hit the other side of eternity. I don't want to waste time arguing over things that are just so insignificant to life and won't even matter by the end of the week. It just brought a scope to my reality about cherishing the ones we love. I feel this can jusitfy me crying afterward over the phone in Matthew's ear for 45 minutes about how much I love him, cherish him and value every moment we get to spend together for the rest of our lives.

With that said, let's wrap up this review. Even though it's nearly 20 years old, I would recomend this film--and that's saying a lot, I'm pretty picky about movies (my list of ultimate favorite films isn't even up to 5 yet). It was well written, the characters were well-rounded and the message was well-developed. So the next time you're searching for a period drama that takes place in the vintage South, I'd suggest The War. You probably won't regret it.