It seems as though over the last couple of years we have
been flooded with war and environment documentaries. Hell and Back Again may
not be anything extraordinary, but it is one of the better films to come out of
the Iraq/Afghanistan documentary genre. The film follows U.S. Marine Sergeant
Nathan Harris, a grunt from North Carolina who's shot in Afghanistan and returns
home to begin his recovery.
Dennis'
film works best when he's in North Carolina and we're watching Harris handle
the painful, arduous healing and re-entry process. If you can imagine what it
feels like to watch Jeremy Renner at his home or at the grocery store near the
end of The Hurt Locker, except for it's about 50 minutes instead of 5, then
you'll understand why it's so invigorating. Watching Harris wrestle with his
new life makes for extraordinary, fascinating viewing. The way his mind, body
and heart almost reset is captivating and moving.
It's
odd, then, that a war documentarian as productive as Danfung Dennis uses almost
too much war footage. Although the battles are exhilarating and intense, the
other half of the scenes drag on and on as the Afghan people express their
anger at having to abandon their homes. I understand what Dennis is doing here,
he's showing that even the upper crust of the military don't seem to have a
plan and that the Afghan people are as tired of the war as the soldiers are,
but there's simply too much of it.
Hell
and Back Again is worth seeing, though, and especially so, for those of us
without immediate connections to the infantry soldiers overseas. It's a quick
look into the lives of those changed by the horrors of war.
