War is hell for lone-surving soldier in ‘Lucky Strike’
Vietnam had marijuana, but the drug of choice during World War II was cigarettes, most notably Lucky Strikes, a welcome staple in a G.I.’s ration kit. Not only did they calm frayed nerves, but they also were a dead giveaway of American-born German soldiers attempting to infiltrate the Allied ranks. The Yanks, you see, smoked them down past the Lucky Strike logo. The Germans didn’t.
I mention this because in Rod Lurie’s harrowing “Lucky Strike,” the “cancer sticks” ironically play a significant role in the survival of an Army captain trapped behind enemy lines during the epic Battle of the Bulge. His name was John Castle, a Silver Star-winner who single-handedly dispatched more than a dozen members of a Panzer battalion carrying out Hitler’s last stand in the Ardennes Forest in December 1944.
While a great number of liberties were taken by Lurie and his co-writer, Marc Frydman, Castle’s bravery is indisputable. Nursing multiple wounds and facing a bitter cold, he was able to complete the roughly 19-mile trek from where his company was wiped out to home base armed with little more than his trusty Motorola SCR-300 radio, nicknamed Lassie. For Scott Eastwood, who also starred in Lurie’s acclaimed 2019 Afghan-war chronicle, “The Outpost,” the mission is to re-enact an arduous journey in which Castle was vastly outnumbered in a series of suspenseful skirmishes.
Eastwood handles it well, often eerily reminding you of his father, Clint, in such WWII classics as “Kelly’s Heroes” and “Where Eagles Dare.” He has that Eastwood glare down pat, as well as Dad’s unique cadence, assuring and always confidently in control of every situation. You’d follow him anywhere, which is good because young Eastwood is pretty much the entire movie. There are cameos by Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (“King Richard”) and Eastwood’s fellow nepobaby, Colin Hanks, but, like the everyman he’s playing, it’s do-or-die, in a literal sense.
But then he’s an old hand at on-screen soldiering after “Fury” and “The Outpost.” And it shows in the authenticity of a performance relying on his physicality as much as his delivery. He, for the most part, nails it, selling us on the idea of the common man performing uncommon feats in the wake of near constant danger. Through him, we witness the abominable weather conditions as well as the savage brutality of what was fast becoming acts of desperation by the Nazi SS, upping the cruelty knowing the end is near.
Where “Lucky Strike” suffers is in its occasionally sluggish pacing. One scene in particular, involving a fellow straggler who may or may not be on Castle’s side, goes on for nearly 10 minutes. It starts out gripping but wanes when Lurie takes the encounter to fog-drenched extremes. I also could have done without the tacked-on ending set at Christmas, no less.
These missteps are hardly a deal-breaker, but they are a liability that lessens the impact of what is otherwise a thrilling account of one man’s incredible bravery, not to mention his uncanny resourcefulness. It’s not the best war film I’ve ever seen, but it is among the most timely, coming as it does in the wake of our country being taken hostage by liars, crooks and conspiracists who have no respect for the sacrifices the Greatest Generation made to preserve the liberties these scoundrels seek to abolish. In that respect, “Lucky Strike” isn’t just a movie. It’s a wake-up call for the many who’ve forgotten the high cost of freedom and the gallant men like Castle’s fallen brothers who died to preserve it.
Movie review
Lucky Strike
Rated: R for language, violence, some grisly images
Cast: Scott Eastwood, Colin Hanks, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Taylor John Smith
Director: Rod Lurie
Writers: Rod Lurie and Marc Frydman
Runtime: 102 minutes
Where: In theaters June 26 (limited)
Grade: B
