Happy New Year

Narrative Feature Competition
D: K. Lorrel Manning; with Michael Cuomo,
JD Williams

Earnest performances drive this unflinching drama about the war that soldiers bring home. Following several deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, Sgt. Cole Lewis (Cuomo) returns Stateside for good after being critically injured. While his obviously debilitating wounds appear to be healing, it’s the profound psychological wounds (or, post-traumatic stress disorder) that threaten to dismantle him. Lewis is irate when he is mistakenly sent to the psych ward of a veterans’ hospital to continue his convalescence. He even tries to make a break for it. As it turns out, he finds unexpected solace among a coterie of multigenerational veterans, each with their own war stories. Writer/director Manning earns praise for giving PTSD a human face. However, the final turn Lewis’ story takes may deeply distress (or even baffle) some viewers. While the film ends unapologetically, the specter of disturbing questions lingers.

Saturday, March 19, 2:30pm, Rollins Theatre

This article appears in March 18 • 2011.

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