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PEOPLE & ARTS Saturday 3 december 2016
Review: ‘Man Down’ waits too long to deliver worthy message

SANDY COHEN rines have something to do
AP Entertainment Writer with the disappearance of
“Man Down” carries a Gabe’s son, so Gabe and
poignant message about Devin have gone rogue?
American veterans’ men- Or did Gabe harm his son,
tal health needs, but you and that’s why he’s being
may give up on the movie questioned by a military
before it gets there. Noth- counselor? That distinction
ing is clear until the film’s is key if we want to root for
final moments, which hit the good guy.
with a gut punch just be- Screenwriter Adam G.
fore the credits roll. Simon’s nonlinear story
Until then, the story is told parses out details in such
through disjointed flash- a way that we don’t know
backs that make it hard to enough about Gabe’s
know what’s going on and situation to experience
who to root for. Director his emotional arc until the
Dito Montiel bounces be- very end, which feels like
tween boot camp, active a lost opportunity given its
duty in Afghanistan and life heart-wrenching heft.
in post-apocalyptic Ameri- Without that context, it’s
ca, with star Shia LaBeouf’s hard to fully appreciate
haircut and beard scruff LaBeouf’s nuanced perfor-
the only real indicator of This image released by Lionsgate shows Kate Mara, left, and Shia LaBeouf in a scene from, “Man mance. We don’t under-
where we are in time. Down.” Associated Press stand what we’re looking
LaBeouf’s performance is at until it’s over.
powerful, maybe his best Gabe’s son. Gabe car- Then it’s basic training at Now, clean-shaven Gabe “Man Down” ultimately
to date, but it’s unduly bur- ries a worn picture in his Camp Lejeune, where is driving his son to school has a lot to say about the
dened by an erratic story pocket of his wife, Nata- Gabe and Devin are new as they playfully decide to debilitating effects of war
structure that doesn’t en- lie (Kate Mara), and their recruits being toughened use the military term “man and the dismal reality for
gender empathy for his towheaded little boy, Jon- up by an unrelenting drill down” as secret code for “I many veterans who suffer
character. athan (Charlie Shotwell, sergeant. Natalie sweetly love you.” from post-traumatic stress.
He plays Gabe, a Marine heartbreaking in the final shaves Gabe’s head as he He promises to send letters It just waits too long to say
who enlisted with his life- scenes). prepares to ship out to Af- from Afghanistan. it.
long best friend, Devin (Jai Suddenly, uniformed, ghanistan. Now, stoic Gabe drops a “Man Down,” a Lionsgate
Courtney). clean-shaven Gabe is in an Now, Gabe and Devin reluctant tear while talking release, is rated R by the
When we first see the office being questioned by are back from the war, to the military counselor. Motion Picture Association
two men, they’re dirty a military counselor (Gary bearded and dirty, wan- The meandering structure of America for “some dis-
and bearded, not in uni- Oldman, disappointingly dering dystopian streets creates a little too much turbing violence, and lan-
form, brandishing guns flat). The counselor is asking and threatening a home- mystery for the audience guage throughout.” Run-
in a bombed-out city as about “the incident,” and less man as they look for to know where to place its ning time: 92 minutes. Two
they desperately look for Gabe is stoic. Gabe’s family. allegiances. Did the Ma- stars out of four.q
Maisie Williams: Stop going to dolphin shows

YURI KAGEYAMA Sting and Daryl Hannah. dolphins is extremely rare O’Barry’s Dolphin Proj- about Taiji.
Associated Press She hopes her influence, in Japan. The Japanese ect campaign, said that “It’s not an attack on Ja-
TOKYO (AP) — “Game of especially on social me- government also defends only a handful of Taiji fish- pan at all, or on Taiji, or the
Thrones” star Maisie Wil- dia, with 4 million followers whaling as research. ermen are benefiting from people of Taiji,” she said.
liams wants everyone to on Instagram and 1.5 mil- Williams, who is the the practice and many “I want to say, honestly,
stop buying tickets to ma- lion on Twitter, will help the global ambassador for Japanese don’t even know hand on heart, that this is
rine shows. She says it’s the cause. not an attack on anyone
best way to stop the cap- Ric O’Barry, the dolphin in specific.”
ture and killings of dolphins trainer for the “Flipper” TV “The Cove,” which was not
in Japan. series, started the protests widely shown in Japan,
“These animals travel the against the Taiji dolphin kill. went online Friday for free
ocean. That’s what they He starred in “The Cove,” viewing limited to Japan,
explore daily. No tank will which depicts a pod of dol- after the Dolphin Project
be big enough. No tank phins getting herded into rebought distribution rights.
will ever be deep enough, an inlet and bludgeoned Williams said she went to
ever be exciting enough,” to death. the cove earlier in the day,
she said Friday in a Skype The ones that are killed and but there was no slaughter.
call from the small Japa- sold for meat are left over During her trip, her second
nese town of Taiji, whose from the main purpose of time in Japan, she plans
dolphin hunt was docu- the hunt — selling the best- to go whale-watching in
mented in the 2009 Oscar- looking ones to aquariums Mikura Islands, south of
winning film “The Cove.” and shows. Tokyo, where whales are
Williams, 19, is the latest The hunters in Taiji and their In this photo released by DolphinProject, Maisie Williams stands protected and dolphins
celebrity joining the cause supporters have repeated- in front of a fence with notice boards beside the beach known are often seen swimming in
for dolphin hunting in Taiji, Wakayama prefecture, central Ja-
to save dolphins. Others in- ly defended the custom as pan, Friday, Dec. 2, 2016. the wild. “It was something
clude Brian May of Queen, tradition, although eating Associated Press that just struck a chord in
my heart. q