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Friendship

The Call of the Wild: True Friends

May 8, 2020 by J. Alan Sharrer

If there is one thing the global pandemic has taught us, it?s that our way of living can be turned upside down quite easily. We have all felt the effects of something no naked eye can see. Companies have been reduced to shells of themselves?or even cease to exist. People have learned to adapt to life in a technologically driven world?often through a computer screen. It makes for a world that may look and feel quite different once society is ready to push the start button again. It?s interesting that the recent film The Call of the Wild makes the concept of friendship a focal point, reminding us all that even if we don?t think we need each other, we really do.

Set at the end of the 19th century during the Klondike Gold Rush, the film (adapted from Jack London?s beloved novel) focuses on a dog named Buck.  At the beginning of the movie, he lives with a judge in Santa Clara, California. Buck is huge?both in size and in the ability to cause problems (such as giving into temptation and chowing down on a massive buffet set up for the judge?s guests).  He is captured one night and is thrown on a train to Skagway Alaska, where he delivers mail as part of a sled dog team led by Perrault (Omar Sy) and Francoise (Cara Gee). He?s ready to run the show but doesn?t understand how the pecking order works.  Spitz is Perrault?s alpha dog and will not give it up easily.  However, Buck?s compassion and generosity to the other sled dogs has a ripple effect that eventually leads to him taking over and helping Perrault and Francoise deliver the mail on time for the first time ever. 

But that?s not Buck?s overall plan for life?Perrault and Francois lose their jobs and his sled dog team is sold to Hal (Dan Stevens), a man with a vile temper and no knowledge of how to lead anything or anybody.  As a result, he almost drives the dog team to the breaking point?until John Thornton (Harrison Ford) shows up and rescues him, infuriating Hal even further.  Why did John rescue Buck?  It seems the two had met each other a few times in the past, with Buck returning John?s harmonica to him in Skagway.  This friendship is exactly what the two need, even as they endure nature, the aforementioned Hal, and Buck?s discovery of his place in the world.

The film itself has numerous scenes of absolute beauty?both visually and emotionally. Director Chris Sanders, in his directorial debut, does a nice job weaving in plot points, action sequences, and the requisite Harrison Ford voiceover.  I do think the ending was a bit telegraphed, but it still had a satisfying element to it due to the connection John and Buck have with each other. For the most part, the other characters weren?t memorable, although Sy?s Perrault reminds me of Cool Runnings for some reason (say it with me: ?Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme . . .?). If there is a real issue in the movie, it involves the CGI.  In this day and age, we?re used to realism exactly like real life.  There were a number of times where I was actually distracted due to seeing something abnormal (the jumping on the beds in Judge Miller?s house was one).  However, The Call of the Wild does a good enough job to warrant a recommendation from me.

John Thornton had life change for him with the loss of his son, Tim. He needed stability that did not arrive when he wanted it.  However, Buck?s entrance into his life was a game-changer for him.  John gave into his sense of adventure and began to transform into the person Tim would?ve been proud of. This is exactly what a true friend does?they see our good and our bad yet make the conscious choice to challenge, encourage, and love us.  In fact, the Bible says that ?A friend loves at all times? (Proverbs 17:17 NASB).  In life?and even moreso during this once-in-a-lifetime situation we find ourselves in?we need true friends to rally around us as we rally around them. Buck changed for the better in the film and this is part of the reason why. May we take his example to heart today!  

The Call of the Wild is available on VOD now.

May 8, 2020 by J. Alan Sharrer Filed Under: Featured, Film, VOD Tagged With: call of the wild, Chris Sanders, Friendship, Harrison Ford, jack london

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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