Based on Ben Fountain's 2012 novel of the same name, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is a great looking movie that is sharper on style than it is on substance. Director Ang Lee, choosing to adapt it for the big screen by filming it at an unprecedented 120 frames per second (at 4K resolution), has made an effective looking movie about a young man's (Joe Alwyn) welcome-back celebration at a nationally televised NFL game in his home state of Texas after he's proclaimed a national hero as a result of rescuing one of his superiors amidst battle in Iraq. When the video goes viral, Billy's life takes a dramatic turn, and he's met with fame and open arms by everyone at home, including a sexy cheerleader (Makenzie Leigh) who takes a rather accelerated interest in him.
The movie juxtaposes the hellish world that American soldiers face in the middle East with the polished American celebration of the soldiers as a cosmetic representation that US is doing the right thing by meddling in affairs of other nations by means of warfare. Naturally, the only person who comes across as a human, and not as a written creation, is Billy's sister Kathryn (Kristen Stewart, looking scarred both physically and emotionally); the other characters are pretty much tools whose purpose is to justify our need to fight, at any cost, and for whatever reason. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is a masterfully photographed film - its shots and scenes appear as dream sequences in a world constructed out of nightmarish ideals - but its story is too unfocused to really convey a memorable narrative. As such, it's only half-successful.
C+
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