Camp X-Ray

Army life for Kirsten Stewart

Our story begins with PFC. Cole (Kristen Stewart) being stationed at Guantanamo Bay.  She is a simple girl, joining the army for one reason or another. she has people that she knows when she gets there, and some new faces. One face is CPL. Ransdell, the NCO in charge of her (Lane Garrison) who introduces her to the base, and gets her familiar with the proceedings. When she is first learning her Standard Operating Procedures she meets Ali (Peyman Moaadi). Ali is not like the other detainees, and sets Cole through a mental ringer when she tries to figure out if what she is doing is necessarily the right thing.

Hey everyone, so now we get to learn a little more about Dustin as a person, so strap yourself in, this is going to be a long one. First I get to view this story as soldier (however loose my fellow soldiers choose to let that term apply to the National Guard). As far as I can tell this movie interprets soldier life as close as they can get, without revealing anything that might paint the army in a bad light (more or less). The uniforms are right, the salute is right, the Drill and Ceremony positions seem to be accurate. Most everything here seems to be in order, yet I know there are going to be people calling my bluff. Yes, I know that when Cole says "Officer on the deck!" Soldiers in the army don't actually say "deck" that is a Navy term. My Drill Sergeant in basic was more than clear on that, and that isn't the kind of bluff I am referring to. What I am referring to is that people are going to say that this movie paints the Army in a bad light. Look this movie is not showing Army personnel abusing detainees any more than news articles, and in fact kind of softens the blow. Making the soldiers accountable for their action instead of the army as whole. I do feel that they overly romanticized the relationship soldiers and detainees have for the sake of the film, but it definitely didn't show people the dark side of the Iraq/Afghanistan War. This movie wore kids gloves throughout the entire running time, until it came to one topic. Women.

Yes, women. Those people that look slightly different in the uniform than men do (slightly). It is a smaller portion of the movie, yet a portion every service member can relate to. How many times have we seen class films on Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, or Equal Opportunity? I have personally lost count, and this movie seems to have taken the overlying theme of those clips and put it in a small part of this movie. Now, I am not going to sit here and type my exact feelings towards how women are treated in the military. I cannot comment on how women feel in the military, since I am not a woman; but, given the context of the harassment clips shown in class and my friendship towards female service members I have to say it seems accurate. If any female service members actually read this review blog, please feel free to tell me how wrong or right I am in the comments; but, for now it seems accurate.

 Now that we got all of the "getting to know the writer" BS out of the way, let me talk to you about the story. I feel that the story was descent enough. It didn't beat me over the head with an "AMERICANS ARE EVIL!" moral, and it didn't paint all Muslims as terrorists. I liked the characters in this. Ali was the one it seemed that the writers spent the most time on, but Cole was pretty intriguing herself. You get a real since of "other" from Cole, doing whatever she can to fit in with the people she is stationed with. Ali is just a fun character, one ripe for psychoanalysis by a professional. The other characters are stand ins, simply there to occupy a role or space. Ransdell was the ultimate asshole, painting the audience to hate him (as he should). Riso was the friend who you worried about, and didn't seem to quite get things. The only two that really stick with you are Cole and Ali. Unfortunately, they romanticize the relationship between them so much, that it is hard to take it seriously some times. Yes, I get that they are trying to make the movie more compelling, but it just kind of sank some of my feelings towards the characters.

Hey, we are back to getting to know the writer, when I give you this quick warning before going into the acting portion of this review. I am a big advocate for Kristen Stewart being a good actress. I think that the roles she plays are played well, and people give her WAY too much shit for the godawful series that became Twilight. I do feel that I remove my feelings towards her talent from my reviews, but I know she has a very plain presence on the screen. Fortunately enough, most of the roles she is in call for her to be plain.  You want to see her not plain? Check out The Cake Eaters and The Runaways. That should shatter any linger feelings that she can't act.

On to the acting. Kirsten Stewart gives a knock out performance here as Cole, but the entire movie is stolen by the performance given by Peyman Moaddi. He makes the audience feel just the right amount of sympathy combined with distrust. Kirsten Stewart wasn't far behind as she gave the best performance I have seen from her in quite a long time; however, all was not amazing in the world of acting for this movie. Lane Garrison really hammed it up as the "NCO" of this movie, acting like so many other NCO's we have seen, and offering nothing fresh to the proceedings. Normally, I wouldn't count a neutral performance of a basic character against the actor; but, he just did not sell me. I didn't see my Sergeant when I saw him, I saw an actor that watched too many military movies to prepare for his role.

Final Verdict: Amazon it Since I can't find this movie in theaters, but can find it on Amazon, this rating will have to suffice for now. I wish I had the opportunity to see this movie in theaters and add to its box office, but I don't think it was worth spending twenty bucks on to buy.