Operation Homecoming - Writing the Wartime Experience - B-

On DVD (2007). Unrated, 81 minutes. Trailer.

This film is an extension of a project spearheaded by the National Endowment of the Arts, which went to Iraq to encourage and teach soldiers how to write about their experiences. The film interviews several soldier-writers and then shows visually diverse re-enactments of their stories, with narration from such famous voices as Robert Duvall, John Krasinski, Blair Underwood, Aaron Eckhart, Josh Lucas and Beau Bridges. This was one of the 5 documentaries nominated for an Oscar this year (although it didn't win). Click below for more "Operation..."

The structure of the film is reminiscent of a Ken Burns film, but with modern vignettes. Several of the stories and images are powerful. The problem with documentaries like this is that they tend to tell stories we already know.....the bunking situation sucks, that war is boredom peppered with fantastic violence, etc. It was hard to sit through this one, and it felt long, even at 81 minutes. The best vignette is Duvall's, which tells the story of returning a soldier's body to his hometown against a backdrop of stills taken on a beautiful day. Probably not worth the rental, unless you wished Jarhead was 6 hours long.