Arrrr, mateys, I be Rosamund Pirate, the scurvy dog of the silver screen and I be here to tell ye no man, woman, or child alive is gon’ ter outact me in this film. A Private War is mine, all mine, I tells ye.
Boy, the minute you go and say something nice about somebody, they pull this on you. I had really started to believe Rosamund Pike had become an A-Lister. Not any more.
The story of war reporter Marie Colvin (Pike) is not exactly the one that brings all the boys to the yard. Having lost her eye and her sense of humor in Sri Lanka in 2001, Colvin sought to prove to everybody that she was just as broken on the inside as the outside. Mission accomplished. Actually, Colvin sought nothing of the sort, pretending instead that her PTSD was just a rash or something. But we could tell, and boy we could ever tell, because Rosamund Pike overacts this thing like she’s on a WB sitcom.
I’m not quite sure why Marie Colvin chose “eye patch.” Maybe she just wanted to go retro. I think the kids call it “old school.” –Or at least old school kids do– All I know is something terrible must have happened in Syria in 2012, because even with the loss of eye, the screenplay times every horrible Colvin-occupied war scene in terms of 2012 Syria – “Sri Lanka, 2001, eleven years before Syria … Afghanistan, 2005, seven years before Syria … the Country Music Awards, Nashville, three years before Syria …” Yes, she saw a lot of war, and maybe even the Devil going down to Georgia.
There are two main plots in A Private War – the first is angry sociopath Colvin trying to convince everybody she can still bring it, news wise. I’m pretty sure nobody actually doubts that Colvin can bring the news; the question is whether Colvin should bring the news. There is no lack of evidence that her war coverage experience fundamentally changed who she was into somebody even more reckless than before. The second plot theme is Colvin bringing the news, which involved an endless series of Russian Roulette opportunities. The biggest problem with this film is that after a while,
none of the experience is distinguishable: the wars look the same; her attitude looks the same. It’s hard to care about 2012 Syria when it looks exactly like Iraq, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Libya, and the Country Music Awards.
A Private War is a film I feel a little guilty trashing. Marie Colvin was a real woman with figurative balls the size of the globes you find in elementary school classrooms. Unarmed, she advanced on an army alone and lost more than I ever hope to lose in my lifetime. So why does she have to come off as something akin to the primadonna athlete who doesn’t know when to hang ‘em up? There’s a point at which a one-dimensional courage becomes recklessness and –thanks to Pike’s acting- Colvin crossed that line a full decade before the film ended. I truly wish I found this portrait a more compelling one.
War reporting is all about the “Why?”
There’s excitement knowing you could die
Sure don’t lack for thrills
With adrenaline frills
It’s fun and games ‘til you lose an eye
Rated R, 110 Minutes
Director: Matthew Heineman
Writer: Arash Amel
Genre: ♪War! Good God, y’all …♫
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Critics, apparently
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who believe not all wars are the same
