Lucky Strike, 2026.
Directed by Rod Lurie.
Starring Scott Eastwood, Colin Hanks, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Taylor John Smith, Lorne MacFadyen, Atanas Srebrev, Alfie Stewart, Jonathan Yunger, Timothy Blore, Laurent Maurel, Caroline Piette, Hazel Rogers, and Scott Alda Coffey.
SYNOPSIS:
A wounded American soldier fights to survive behind enemy lines during WWII’s Battle of the Bulge against the Germans, relying on his instinct, spy craft and a hand-radio to evade capture and find his way back to his unit.
At the end of co-writer/director Rod Lurie’s Lucky Strike, after World War II ends, the film returns to a conversation between two characters, culminating in the statement, “One day, people will understand why this story matters.” It’s a bold proclamation that simply shouldn’t be uttered after a fairly generic, almost plotless war movie that does little to demonstrate or stress what about Captain Castle’s (played by Scott Eastwood and apparently based on a real engineer) survival plight, which notably comes after failing to save everyone around him in battle, was key to winning the Battle of the Bulge or the greater picture of the war.
Working on the screenplay alongside Marc Frydman (who apparently did most of the research and brought the story to Rod Lurie), it’s unclear why anyone thought this would make for a compelling narrative or an intense survival thriller. Once Captain Castle is on his own, it’s as if the film wants to be a riff on Sam Mendes’ 1917, following one character from set piece to set piece, but without any of the memorable craftsmanship, the one-take gimmick (even if there were digital scene stitches), and the sheer sense of bombastic scale.
Sure, one could argue the filmmakers are a victim of a tight budget, but limited resources don’t mean it is incapable to create suspense with what is available; the closest examples come during a bit where Captain Castle has to play dead near a German soldier who turns out to be alive, dealing with him in the process while trying not to be noticed by the other paroling Nazis, and a segment with an American stranger who may or may not be secretly working for the enemy.
The proceedings also have the unfortunate energy of a dry, educational historical video one might encounter at a museum, lecturing on the absolute basics of World War II field operations. At times, it’s as snoozy as watching someone play the most boring Call of Duty campaign imaginable, complete with lengthy scenes of Scott Eastwood walking and crawling around, looking to avoid enemy detection, and sometimes getting dragged into mediocre firefights.
Once again, it bears mentioning that there isn’t anything heroic about Captain Castle anyway, since whenever he is put in a position to potentially save someone, they die. This is confoundingly made light of after the survival portion, where Castle’s superior says that letting your men die is one of those things that happens, and what really matters is that the parents and children around America are still safe. Even more bafflingly hilarious is the “for the boys” end credits tag, followed by World War II photographs of soldiers with no connection to the cast members whose names appear on screen or to the characters they play.
Equally pointless is the previously mentioned framing device, which sees Captain Castle visiting a grieving mother (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) who lost her son in the same battle. For some reason, we even see him under fire in the prologue (accompanied by some atrocious color grading). None of this amounts to anything, since it transitions into Captain Castle’s survival story, which largely has nothing to do with her son. Eventually, another, much more hokey reason is revealed for why he is there visiting the woman.
The shoddiness of that framing device is something that easily could have been forgiven if the wartime survival aspect of Lucky Strike were remotely engaging; it’s numerous attempts to thrill never come to life, and Scott Eastwood simply has no charisma while not fitting the part of the era or war itself, navigating battlefields without a scratch on his face or hair dirtied up. It’s a story of dumb luck, not survival, and while not necessarily outright terrible, an almost lifeless one at that, which adds nothing to the legacy of the Battle of the Bulge.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder
