Review: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

The film adaptation of Ben Fountain's 2012 novel Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is solid if not particularly compelling. Its main distinguishing element is the technology it utilises to tell the tale of Billy Lynn (Joe Alwyn) a 19-year-old Army Specialist who finds himself in the harsh spotlight of celebrity and lauded for surviving what he feels was the worst day of his life.

Director Ang Lee's name isn't necessarily foremost on the mind when one discusses filmmakers who have pushed the limits of technological advancement in film, and yet films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the more recent Life of Pi have helped to introduce, expand or advance what is possible in visual storytelling. In Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, Lee and cinematographer John Toll combine 4K resolution and 3D at 120-frames-per-second, which is five times the standard speed. The result is a hyperreal clarity and unmercifully lucid resolution that can at times be effective (as in the titular walk) as well as distracting. The distraction helps for, unlike the majority of Lee's films, the foundational narrative of the film is lacking.

It's not that Jean-Christophe Castelli's adaptation is terrible, but it feels too imprisoned by the technological execution, which is so exposing that to be a degree above subtle is already an invitation to danger. Thus, Billy's philosophical interactions with Shroom (Vin Diesel), the sergeant whose life he tries to save amidst enemy gunfire, become eye-rollingly cornball. Even worse is Billy's connection with one of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, Faison (Mackenzie Leigh), who believes it is her spiritual duty to provide some modicum of happiness to this conflicted soldier. Slightly better are Billy's exchanges with his sister (Kristen Stewart), who opposes the war and tries to convince him not to redeploy. As affecting as Alwyn and Stewart are individually, one never truly believes the strength of their sibling bond.

Where the film intrigues is in its contrasting of two seemingly radical environments - the war zone and the football zone - to make perceptive points about America's fascination with fame and violence, its refusal to deal with the harsh realities of war, and its preferred treatment of celebrities over the everyday men who sacrifice their lives to protect the country. Billy and the fellow members of the Bravo Squad have been on a "Victory Tour" as a result of video footage that captured Billy's courage under fire. They're feted by the media and the public, they have a manager (Chris Tucker) yammers on about the money they might make from their story being turned into a movie, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys (Steve Martin) has them being driven around in a stretch Hummer limousine. All they need to do is stand there and represent their country despite whatever psychological traumas they may be experiencing. During their time with the Dallas Cowboys, they note how the footballers' uniforms offer better protection than their own army gear, how better fed and taken care of they are - and just for playing a game. The film could have used more of those insights.

Though the film isn't a wholly successful marriage of relatively ordinary narrative and extraordinary technological execution, its titular halftime walk impressively justifies Lee's gambit. That sequence alone - which is both technically and emotionally immersive - would have made for a perfect standalone short film.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

Directed by: Ang Lee

Written by: Jean-Christophe Castelli; adapted from the novel by Ben Fountain

Starring: Joe Alwyn, Kristen Stewart, Chris Tucker, Garrett Hedlund, Vin Diesel, Steve Martin, Tim Blake Nelson, Mackenzie Leigh