Sundance 2017 – The Yellow Birds

The Yellow Birds is one of the most frustrating movies I have seen at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.  Not because it is challenging or because it is confusing.  It is because it is a great film until the final half hour in which it plays out like a boxer who is consistent in hitting their punches and then goes for knock out and whiffs, badly, allowing the opposing boxer hit back and knock out the boxer.

The Yellow Birds is about two young solders, Bartle (Alden Ehrenreich) and Murph (Tye Sheridan) as they navigate the terrors of the Iraq war under the command of the older, troubled Sergeant Sterling (Jack Huston). All the while, Bartle is tortured by a promise he made to Murph’s mother (Jennifer Aniston) before their deployment.

The strongest part of this movie is the performances.  Every performance is great.  Alden Ehrenreich gives a performance that should be recognized by the Academy later this year.  After blazing onto the scene in The Coen Brother’s Hail, Caesar! (2016), Ehrenreich shows great range as a guilt ridden, traumatized solider.  Throughout the movie, we watch him go from a bright-eyed newbie, to this soulless zombie.  Knowing Ehrenreich can do both comedy and drama so well bodes well for his rising career.  Tye Sheridan gives a great performance as Murph, a kid who, similar to Bartle, started his mission with a glow in his eyes, only to witness a horrific tragedy that pushes him over the edge.  Jack Huston is fierce as the boy’s Sergeant.  And Jennifer Aniston and Toni Collette both give sensational supporting performances that I hope garner awards attention.  They both give tough, emotional performances that pull at that heart.

This is two movies in one and they merge perfectly.  One film focuses on the affects of war on young minds, as we see the solders come back from Iraq and struggle for normalcy.  The other movie is a mystery, as something happens to one of the solders that pits the other solders under investigation and with immense amounts of guilt on their consciences.  It reminded me of Mystic River (2003), where that film was an in-depth look at the affects of childhood molestation when you become an adult and had a murder mystery to boot.  However, where Mystic River succeeds and The Yellow Birds falls is the climax.  Mystic River’s climax was the emotional powerhouse we needed and it paid off with both stories. The Yellow Birds missed on both.  It dragged far too long for the emotion and intensity to stay and it sort of tied everything together, but not in the way it should have.  It was a cop and big miss in a movie that was on the path for greatness.

The Yellow Birds is one of the bigger disappointments on Sundance 2017 because it was great for an hour and a half, and then misses the final punch.  I loved all the performances and the initial idea, but the last part really hurt this movie from being a great movie and made it only a good movie.

MY RATING – 3/4

Continue to follow my coverage of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, and on Facebook by searching Kevflix.