{"id":28373,"date":"2024-04-11T00:04:32","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T07:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=28373"},"modified":"2024-04-11T00:04:32","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T07:04:32","slug":"civil-war-strikes-a-nerve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=28373","title":{"rendered":"CIVIL WAR Strikes a Nerve"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Running Time: 109 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature film from A24 opens exclusively in theaters\non April 12th<\/sup>, 2024.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a critic, it\u2019s rare to see a movie that gets an intense\nreception or reaction from those seated immediately around them. But over the\ncourse of the new film Civil War<\/em>, that\u2019s exactly what this reviewer\nexperienced. There was a great deal of squirming and a variety of strong\nreactions to the events being depicted on the screen. In fact, I feel like I\nwas sandwiched between someone who disliked the film intensely and another who\nwas so engaged they were liberally fidgeting their legs and muttering at the screen\nduring tense moments. It seems this title is bound to be polarizing for regular\nviewers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The story is set in the near future where the President of the United States (Nick Offerman) is a dictator. A Second Civil War has erupted with several factions fighting against the authoritarian leader. As the fracas continues, forces from so-called western allied states California and Texas close in on Washington, D.C., readying to take the capital and control of the country. New York-based war photojournalist Lee (Kirsten Dunst) and journalist Joel (Wagner Moura) set a plan to drive along back roads and reach the White House before the president is ousted, all in the hopes of securing a final interview with him. They are joined in their dangerous journey by young, aspiring photographer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) and elderly, renowned journalist Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This film isn\u2019t about what brought on the dictatorship or\nconflict, or even the mantas of these military groups. Instead, it is about the\nmembers of the press and their experiences while traveling through warzones.\nThere are many chilling moments as the protagonists find themselves under fire\nwith soldiers from both sides. The violent acts being committed are truly\nhorrifying and made all the more unsettling because of the familiar American\nbackdrops featured in the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most harrowing bit involves a loyalist soldier\n(Jesse Plemons) stopping and grilling the press members at gunpoint about their\nbackgrounds with the intent of executing them if he doesn\u2019t like the answer.\nAdditionally, the movie makes a note of capturing photos of war, with a few\nimages featuring the Western Forces soldiers grinning at the camera over\nindividuals whom they have shot dead. In the end, it doesn\u2019t matter who is\ndoing the slaughtering, all the pics send chills down the spine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite being a grim war movie, the photography is striking\nthroughout and bizarrely impressive. This is especially true when the\ncharacters sit back and watch rockets and gunfire lighting up the night sky.\nAnd while there is a musical score that pops up here and there, many of the\nbattles feature no music and are broken up by still shot photographs of the\naction. With the exception of one significant moment at the climax of the\npicture (which is less-than-subtle) this uniquely approach taken to covering these\nmoments is effective in authentically conveying their brutality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, the film may have benefitted from an even deeper\nexamination of the motivations behind the two photographers. At least Dunst\ndoes make a strong impression as Lee and viewers do get a clear sense of how\ndisillusioned and traumatized the character has become covering civil conflicts\nworldwide. She openly questions why her images have been completely ignored by\nher own citizens, who are now engaging in the same behavior. This a compelling\nidea well communicated by the performer throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Joel and Jessie characters have a brief but interesting\nexchange about their feelings of terror and excitement while being in the\nmiddle of battle. And truth be told, both photographers seem determined to\nremain detached in order to get their perfect shot even when their subjects are\nsuffering. This viewer wanted to know more about their personal philosophy on\ntheir profession and where their obsession may have derived from, but the story\ndoesn\u2019t give them any time to elaborate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite a few of the characters needing extra fleshing out,\nthis movie serves as a jarring and sharp warning against extremist policies and\nthe dehumanization that can occur during wartime. Civil War<\/em> is a tough\nwatch that will bend some viewers out of shape, but it does land several blows\nand makes a long-lasting impression.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 109 minutes This feature film from A24 opens exclusively in theaters on April 12th, 2024. As a critic, it\u2019s rare to see a movie that gets an intense reception or reaction from those seated immediately around them. But over the course of the new film Civil War, that\u2019s exactly what this reviewer experienced. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[215,605,697,3753,4453,4454,4455,4456,6251,7498,10638,11825,14810,19059,23561,23898,23959],"class_list":["post-28373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-215","tag-a24","tag-action","tag-cailee-spaeny","tag-civil-war","tag-civil-war-film-review","tag-civil-war-movie-review","tag-civil-war-review","tag-drama","tag-fiction","tag-jesse-plemons","tag-kirsten-dunst","tag-nick-offerman","tag-stephen-mckinley-henderson","tag-united-states-civil-war","tag-wagner-moura","tag-war"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28373\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}