Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Sexylocher Masterful Movie

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

bettycjung 3/18/18. A decent Iraqi war movie that shows what American soldiers have to do - anything they are asked to do, and always in harm's way. It will make you appreciate our military's commitment to do what they have to do and could die at a moment's notice. Worth catching.

jantriska-63546 My initial reaction to seeing this low-key but powerful film was along the lines of "wow, that's some intense stuff...and fairly well acted". I also liked the premise of it, the basic plot line. However, there are a number of issues with the film.\First off, since it is supposedly set in the very early phase of the Iraq occupation (2003), there would not yet have been this open Sunni-Shiia hostility and the well-organized guerilla resistance/terrorism by local malcontents. These incidents were only starting to crop up in 2004 and really came to the fore in 2005, 2006. Second detail is the low level of security that the US soldiers seem to deploy while trying to work with random locals. For example, there's no way that a suicide bomber with a cooler full of explosives would have smuggled himself into an actual construction site. I was also left wondering why the main protagonist was sent back to the States and effectively relieved of duty, as opposed to the other guys. It may have been left undefined for the artistic purposes but in a real army setting, there would have been a debrief. Is he seen as suffering from a kind of PTSD or as having gone a bit rogue, or is it a case of "mission not well handled"? The feeling it left was one that army cadres were feeling a bit sorry for this college kid and were shipping him to where he could do no harm or come in harm's way. There is this kind of a rush to wrap up the script and end the story, which rubbed me the wrong way.As an allegory or a stylized cautionary tale, though, this is powerful - and intimate - film because it does get inside the heads of some characters and because the characters are compelling. The difficulties of working with the Iraqis and generally in an alien cultural environment were portrayed in an interesting way.This is not a fast-paced, high body count war action flick. But some of the action sequences are intense. Lots of mixed feelings about this one.

kostadin ushev (horror_bg2002) I had expectations about this film, since Henry Cavil build quite a name of himself from Superman, Man from UNKLE... not great expectations but still. After watching it, I was not quite sure that it had a purpose. What was the meaning? That every college kid is not fit for the army? That if you destroy a village, and return at some point in time, they will still hate you? That repair works in war zones are meaningless? Both the title and the synopsis of the movie are misleading. Neither they build or had anything to do with even figuratively or literally any sand castles, or they protected a village. OK I can smooch out my thumbs and say that when you build a sand castle there will always be some douche who will destroy it. Was that it? Some of the posters of the movie are heavily misleading. Henry Cavil had, literally 2 min screen time, and couple of dialogue lines. Was he used only to sell the movie? The movie is full of inaccuracies and mistakes that it goes towards pure fiction. Probably this movie is not worth the bowl of popcorn you prepared for it...

smazmac Great war film to watch. It doesn't just flood the film with meaningless action but shows a complex story about the difficult relations between the U.S. soldiers and the Iraqi community. You can really relate to the main character Pvt. Ocre (Nicholas Hoult) as he experiences the challenges and brutality of war. Some parts of the plot were a bit simple, but overall I would recommend it. Some parts can be a bit brutal though, so be prepared for that.