The Dry Land (Sunday, August 1, 2010) (88)

The Dry Land is a pretty typical returning-to-home-after-war movie that I feel like I've seen a hundred times already (even a few times in the current Iraq war). It really adds nothing to the long line of these films, and falls back on predictable, recycled material.

James (Ryan O'Nan) gets off the plane in El Paso and is met at the airport by his wife Sarah (America Ferrera) and his best friend Michael (Jason Ritter). They drive into the wilds of East Texas and get to their trailer home where their family is waiting to greet him. James has been in Iraq for at least one tour and is now done with his military contract. He gets a job at the slaughter house owned by Sarah's father and slips back into his normal life.

At some point he begins suffering from PTSD and has night terrors and long drinking binges. It seems he was in a convoy that was hit by an IED. He doesn't remember exactly what happened and is dead-set on finding out. To do this he and his best friend Raymond (Wilmer Valderrama) drive to Washington, D.C. so they can talk to a platoon-mate who is there in re-hab and find out more details about the incident.

The story is very tired. Most of it feels like earlier films such as Stop Loss or The Messenger (neither one of those was particularly good, by the way), especially the bizarre decision to drive from El Paso to D.C. (only about 1900 miles... but no sweat - we'll do it in a weekend). Nothing here is new or interesting.

The best part of the film is the acting - which is pretty solid throughout. American Ferrera is fantastic - a big improvement on the shrill comedy she's been doing on television for the past few years. She is very good as a strong young woman who is in a nightmare situation with the man she loves. She's very sweet and lovable too - which is important for establishing their relationship. Ryan O'Nan (who I admit I sorta recognize, but not from anything particular he's done before) is very good in the lead role - at least as good as he can be with the bad material he's give to work with.

Much of the story and many of the characters in the film are not very necessary to the central story. James' mother is played by Melissa Leo, but she is totally not needed for the narrative. The same thing goes for the Michael character who just seems to be extra stuff - and an extra twist ultimately - that is not really important.

I would love for there to be another interesting, intense Iraq movie - like The Hurt Locker. I would welcome such a film. Instead we keep getting banal films about PTSD and how it's hard to re-adjust after fighting. I get it already. It's dull.

Stars: 1.5 of 4