by A.J.
Best Pictures #38:
2016 (89th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee
Hacksaw Ridge is a good film, but too uneven to be a great
film. There is noticeable talent at work both in front of and behind the
camera. It has received a total of six Oscar nominations for Best
Picture, Director (Mel Gibson), Actor (Andrew Garfield), Editing, Sound Mixing,
and Sound Editing. Noticeably, and rightfully, not among those nominations is
the screenplay by Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan, which is by far the
clunkiest element in an otherwise well-made, well-acted war film.
It seems like a paradox that a movie about a pacifist should
be so bloody and gory, but the incredible true story of Desmond Doss, the first
conscientious objector to win the Congressional Medal of Honor, is exactly
that. Doss saved the lives of 75 fellow soldiers at the gruesome Battle of
Okinawa in 1945 without even carrying a gun. Andrew Garfield plays
Doss, a Seventh Day Adventist who enlisted as a combat medic during World War
II, despite his vow to never touch a gun or take a life. His beliefs and
refusal to use a weapon—not even for target practice—does not win any favor
with his army superiors or fellow soldiers.
There are two distinct halves to Hacksaw Ridge: Doss’s life
and experiences stateside at home in Virginia and at basic training, and his experience at the
Battle of Okinawa. It isn’t just Doss’s religious beliefs that compel him to
never use firearms. We see him as a child nearly kill his brother with a brick
during a fight. There is also his abusive, alcoholic father, Tom, an emotionally and psychologically scarred veteran of
WWI,
played with a superb performance by Hugo Weaving. A brighter side of his life in Virginia is his sweet romance with a nurse
named Dorothy, played by Teresa Palmer. They marry and he enlists in the army. If
there were so many people taking life in the war, Doss thought, then he would
be one person saving life. The movie stops just shy of making Doss into a saint
thanks to Garfield’s performance. He makes Doss a believable person of strong
conviction and goodwill.
When Doss arrives at basic training we meet characters with
names like: Vito, Tex, Hollywood, Smitty, and Grease. You might think that
Hacksaw Ridge accidentally used the screenplay of a war movie from the 1940s
or 50s (and one that would’ve been clichéd even then). There is scene after scene of
ham-fisted dialogue of people underestimating Doss, then realizing that they
had him all wrong. It’s a bit much, but just as soon as you’re ready to write
off Hacksaw Ridge, it wins you back, usually thanks to one of the strong performances. It’s at basic training that we meet Vince Vaughn (the lone
American in a cast of Brits and Australians) as Doss’s tough and
serious, but somehow hilarious, sergeant. It’s a role that is perfect for Vaughn. He’s great at
delivering amusing insults to the new recruits, but his stern face and
formidable stature, especially when confronting the slender Andrew Garfield—Vaughn
is 6’5” after all—make him quite intimidating. Like Doss, he’s a character you
believe because of the talent of the performer.
Hacksaw Ridge really shines in its second half at the Battle
of Okinawa and the skillful direction of Mel Gibson takes the film to another
level. Frantic, hellish, and horrific violence and battle sequences are what he
excels at, but he never loses the underlying humanity that the first half of
the film builds. The scenes set in Virginia are also well done, but only Gibson
could craft the second half of this movie. Doss spends three days on the
battlefield, day and night, finding wounded and dying soldiers and taking each
one to safety by lowering them down a steep cliff one by one. Each time, Doss
asks God to help him get one more. This film revels in blood and guts but it
does not glorify or make war seem adventurous. It makes war look dirty and
gross and frightening and bloody and scary and awful.
I’m perplexed that the movie telling the true story of
Desmond Doss is steeped in war movie clichés. It’s almost frustrating. These clichéd
scenes with stiff, uncreative dialogue occur throughout the movie. It is the excellently
shot battle scenes and great performances from Andrew Garfield,
Vince Vaughn, and Hugo Weaving that make the film substantial. Despite its
flaws, Hacksaw Ridge has enough quality moments and performances to make it
well worth watching.
Nominees: Bill Mechanic, David Permut, producers
Director: Mel Gibson
Screenplay: Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington, Hugo
Weaving
Production Companies: Pandemonium Films, Permut Productions,
Vendian Entertainment, Kylin Pictures
Distributor: Summit Entertainment, Icon Films
Release Date: November 4th, 2016
Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Director-Mel Gibson, Actor-Andrew
Garfield, Editing-John Gilbert, Sound Mixing-Kevin O'Connell, Andy Wright,
Robert Mackenzie, Peter Grace, Sound Editing-Robert Mackenzie, Andy Wright
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