For years, we've watched films projected at 24 fps (meaning 24 individual frames of film pass by the projector lens each second) and raising that rate gives us a more detailed and realistic image. When Peter Jackson released his Hobbit series at 48 frames per second a few years ago, it was an unmitigated disaster. The high definition image made the CGI look cheap and the sets and costumes look like bad cosplay. Ang Lee's new film, "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" is projected in 3D at a staggering 120 fps and when the film premiered at the New York Film Festival a few months back, critics were not impressed. While the "Village Voice's" Bilge Ebiri probably went a bit far in calling the innovation a, "crime against cinema," one thing is for sure: the images created by that high frame rate are so hyper-realistic, they're liable to melt your face off.
Based on the bestselling novel of the same name, the film is set in 2004 and told from the perspective of the titular Billy Lynn (played by newcomer Joe Alwyn), a heroic young soldier of the Iraq War whose squad is ending their publicity tour through America by appearing in a football halftime show. As Billy and Bravo Squad attend a press conference, watch the game and–rather hilariously–march behind Destiny's Child during the halftime show, flashbacks of Billy's life cut in on the present. Half of them show Billy's life overseas, from his time spent training and bonding with his fellow soldiers to the battle that made them famous. The other half is spent with his family in Texas right after he came back to America, specifically, with his sister, Kathryn, played by Kristen Stewart.
Though Stewart appears briefly in the trailers, much of the film's emotion hinges on Billy and Kathryn's relationship and long chunks of the film are just the two of them talking. While you'd expect the high definition images to be wasted on those scenes, they're actually some of the film's most remarkable. The picture quality is so intense that it actually feels like you're in the room with Kristen Stewart, which is just too much Kristen Stewart for me to handle, frankly. I can barely survive the profound expressiveness of her face when viewed through the gauzy blur of the normal 24 fps. The cognitive dissonance between the lifelike images and the knowledge that I could not actually reach out and wipe the tears from that beautiful face nearly fried my brain.
On some level, Lee's ability to convey the full, devastating power of Stewart's acting ability is due to the film speed, but it's also, in large part, due to the way he films it. Multiple times throughout the film, usually during very intimate moments, Lee has his actors stare directly into the camera. We become Billy in those moments, experiencing the world exactly as he does. It's a jarring technique, but there's also something incredibly effective about the choice. There is an inherent intensity in experiencing another person's emotions in real life, an intimacy if you will. Before high frame rate and 3D, film could only suggest it, but here, Lee comes closer than ever before to recreating that feeling. It is awful in the biblical sense–both wonderful and terrible to behold–and so real that you'll frequently want to look away.
Most of the time, that awfulness is manageable, like in the masterful bit of editing and spectacle that is the halftime show sequence. During the battle sequences, however, the effect is downright traumatizing. You are on that battlefield with Bravo Squad. You feel every bullet and every explosion. The violence and danger is right there on the surface and it becomes almost painfully acute in the sequence where we see the heroic act that made Billy famous. It's quick and decisive and there is nothing to keep the audience from understanding exactly why Billy was so shaken by what happened.
Regardless of any personal reaction to the high frame rate, you have to admire what it allows Lee to do in those scenes: he is forcing us to confront the damage the War on Terror inflicted on the soldiers who fought/fight it. We cannot turn away from reality. However, that realism actually hurts the film just as much as it enhances it.
Stewart can handle the harsh glare of hyper-realistic film, but the rest of the cast (many of whom are brand new or close to it) is not so lucky. God bless him, but Vin Diesel is not a great actor. If this were the latest Fast and Furious movie, that wouldn't really matter, but the film's meaning lies in the connection between Billy and Diesel's character, Shroom. There's a lot of cheesy dialogue in their interactions–and throughout–and the vividness of the images only helps point out that real people wouldn't really talk this way.
Still, despite an uneven cast, Alwyn does well in the lead role. His soft, young features carry sadness well and there's a sureness in the way he carries himself that makes his strength believable. And while he can sometimes be a bit blank, it works in his favor since Billy spends so much of the film immersed in his own memories.
Seen projected at 120 fps as Ang Lee intended, "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" is like no film you've ever seen. However, take away the technical innovation and the truth is, the film is just fine. It's a war story that we've seen before in more effective ways and maybe even a story that's a few years too late. There are a couple of good performances and some really stunning stylistic choices, but it's hard to imagine the film will have much of an impact on audiences—most of whom won't see it at anywhere close to 120 fps. So, if you're near a theater that's actually showing the film at that rate, absolutely buy a ticket and experience what could be cinema's future.
Otherwise, you should probably just go see "Arrival" or "Doctor Strange" instead.
Rating: 7.5/10
