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Brothers

Northern Shade – The Price of Isolation

February 24, 2023 by Darrel Manson

?You?re never haunted by just one ghost.?

Northern Shade, first feature from writer/director Christopher Rucinski, is a story about isolation and connections. In the process, it shows us the cost of the increasing isolation that we face in our lives.

Justin McLaughlin (Jesse Gavin) has been back from his deployment in Afghanistan for seven years. He lives alone on a boat and does menial jobs so he can drink his life away. He is estranged from his family?for many reasons. The only consistent thing in his life is that he is haunted by the ghost of Noel (Alejandro Bravo), a friend from the army who was killed while standing next to him.

When Justin?s mother reaches out to him to try to find his brother, Charlie (Joseph Poliquin), he?s not interested. A pretty private investigator, Frankie (Tatania Galliher) also seeks his help as she tries to find another missing young man in the area that Charlie was in. It is not until Noel pushes him that he goes looking for Charlie. In Connecticut, he learns of a compound where a militia trains. They are very secretive and secluded. When he gains access and is shown a grave, he knows he must get in and rescue his brother. He recruits Frankie?s help (she also has a military background) and they sneak into the compound and discover that the group has a planned mission against the government.

When Charlie and Justin reunite, at first, Charlie wants nothing to do with Justin, who he sees as having abandoned him when Justin joined the army. In the militia, Charlie has found a new family, headed by Billy (Romano Ozari) who claims to be military, but is really just a wannabe who lives off stolen valor. Even after the battle with Frankie and Justin against Billy and his group, Charlie is free from Billy, but may not ready to be with Justin.

The film uses a broad brush to tell the story. There is little insight into the mentality that makes up the foundation of militias and the threat they present. Justin and Billy are stereotypes of their characters. We see some depth in Justin?s pain, but never quite see where his virtue is based.

The story is set during the COVID period. Masks are worn often. The masks are another layer of isolation that these characters face. The one time Justin does manage to connect with someone (Noel?s wife), it only causes him more angst. Even though most of us don?t still wear masks frequently, this film reminds us that we too may have felt a bit isolated from our communities when we spent so much time behind our bits of cloth. It may have been necessary, but it still left us feeling alone.

Justin?s isolated life, designed to keep him from feeling the pain of his deployment and Noel?s death, blocked him from finding life on his return. Charlie also felt isolated and found a substitute family that was willing to use him for their own purposes. It is only by facing his failings as a brother and a son that Justin begins to move forward in his life to reconnect with people who loved him. And only by forgiving Justin that Charlie is able to free himself for a new life.

Northern Shade is in theaters and available on virtual cinema.

Photos courtesy of Bayview Entertainment.

February 24, 2023 by Darrel Manson Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: Brothers, drama, ghost, militia, veteran

The Long Road Home Ep. 1&2: Come Together

November 7, 2017 by J. Alan Sharrer

(Photo: National Geographic/Van Redin)

If possible, so far as it depends on you, be?at?peace?with all men.
–The Apostle Paul

Peacekeeping was the goal for the members of the First Calvary Division when they headed to Sadr City, Iraq in 2004.? It was a quiet area with one incident in the previous calendar year.

Two weeks later, that peace turned into war and a desperate fight for survival.

The first two episodes of National Geographic?s new series The Long Road Home (tonight, 9 PM/8 CT) chronicles the events of Black Sunday and paints a multifaceted picture of war and its effects on not only the soldiers but their families seven thousand miles away.? Based on the New York Times bestseller of the same name by ABC Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz, it?s intense, violent, and sad?sometimes all at once.? It?s definitely must-see-TV (or at least must-DVR).

Each episode focuses, to some extent, on one of the main players in the Black Sunday attack on April 4, 2004.? 1st Lt. Shane Aguero (EJ Bonilla) is the focal point of episode one as the leader of the group initially attacked.? The viewer sees him at the outset playing with his two kids, each of whom are taking his deployment hard.? His daughter is clinging to his side while his son wants absolutely nothing to do with him.? His wife Amber (Kate Paxton) is left to deal with things until he returns, but she has a group of wives on base who have banded together to provide support until the boys come back (if they do).

Life at Camp War Eagle seems quite boring, but who really wants action when it could mean dying in the process? When Aguero?s battalion is ambushed, it?s the first time many of the troops have ever experienced live fire of that nature.? It?s easy to tell the soldiers are a band of brothers, and when one of their own gets hit, it?s a race against time to keep him alive.

Courtesy National Geographic

The second episode looks at the situation through the eyes of Lt. Col. Gary Volesky (Michael Kelly, seen above), a calm, mild-mannered man who lives a life of faith back home.? There are flashbacks to his family praying before dinner and a few situations where he is asking God for faith in what would become two days of nightmares.? One of the most heartbreaking parts of the episode is when a soldier introduces his mom to Volesky, who promptly demands reasons as to why her son is being forced to deploy.? After calming her, he promises that everyone on the journey will return home alive. You can see his resolve shaken when he later learns one under his charge was killed.? Aguero?s team calls for reinforcements, and when they head out (inadequately protected, BTW), Volesky stands beside the chaplain as he prays a long prayer for them.? It?s easy to tell that the situation is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.

I was immediately struck by how galvanized the troops were to each other.? Sure, they got on each other?s nerves and struggled with making the right decisions at times, but in the end, they all came together and took care of each together.? This was in direct contrast to the interpreter they had on board (Jassim al-Lani, played by Darius Homayoun), who seemed to be dispensable?especially to Sgt Eric Bourquin (Jon Beavers).? The writer of Ecclesiastes notes that ?Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.?For if?either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not?another to lift him up? (Eccl 4:9-10 NASB).? It works in friendship, it works in marriage, and it works in life-and-death situations. That writer was pretty wise!? We were not made to life live alone, and the first two episodes of The Long Road Home are testimony that is the case.

November 7, 2017 by J. Alan Sharrer Filed Under: Current Events, Reviews, Television Tagged With: Brothers, Darius Homayoun, death, Ecclesiastes, EJ Bonilla, Eric Bourquin, Faith, Friendship, Gary Volesky, Iraq, Jassim al-Lani, Jon Beavers, Kate Paxton, Martha Raddatz, Michael Kelly, National Geographic, Paul, Prayer, Promises, Sadr City, Shane Aguero, Soldiers, The Long Road Home, war

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