War is Hell at the Box Office
Rafer Guzmn - Newsday
Nov 19, 2009
Moviegoers like to see real life reflected on the big screen, whether it's a biographical film like "Amelia," a courtroom drama like "A Civil Action" or even a terrorist thriller like "Traitor." When it comes to ripping from the headlines, however, there is one subject that has generally proved unpopular at the box office: America's current wars in the Middle East.
As if that topic weren't tender enough, two new war-themed films will have to contend with the recent shootings at Fort Hood, Texas.
The first, "The Messenger," stars Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster ("3:10 to Yuma") as Army soldiers whose wounds - in both mind and body - make them desk-job candidates. Still, their assignments are not easy: They must knock on doors and deliver bad news to families.
That film will be followed by "Brothers," scheduled for wide release Dec. 4, in which Tobey Maguire plays a psychologically damaged Marine who returns home from Afghanistan. Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhaal play the wife and brother who must deal with this changed man.
Like many a recent war movie, from "The Hurt Locker" to "Grace is Gone" to "In the Valley of Elah," these new ones focus less on physical trauma than on mental and emotional stress, an aspect of military service that's been much in the news following the Fort Hood tragedy. As both films hit screens around the country, we'll find out whether these are stories Americans are ready to see.
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