The Lucky Ones

An American road film. Three soldiers come back on leave from Iraq and have to catch the same plane in New York. A power cut cancels all the flights. They hire a car together and set off. Each is going somewhere different, and so are their characters. Cheaver is the older one; he is leaving the army for good and going back to his wife and son. Colee has a wounded leg; she is taking a guitar to the family of a friend who died and hopes to be taken in there. TK is going back after a short leave and has worries about his fiancée because of an injury. Along the way they see the country: motel rooms, a church gathering, a college party and a casino. What the film is interested in is not the war but the return: people at home not knowing what to say, the odd distance between thanks and curiosity, and the soldiers being easy among themselves and strangers outside. Where the narrative arrives is that the places all three want to reach are not waiting for them. Tim Robbins plays Cheaver, Rachel McAdams plays Colee and Michael Peña plays TK. Neil Burger directed. A warm choice for anyone who likes road films and character narratives. For a viewer expecting a political thesis, the film passes no judgement on the war and looks at the state of three people.