Shadows on the Wall | The Mosquito Bowl

The Mosquito Bowl

dir Peter Berg
scr Peter Berg, Mark L Smith
prd Peter Berg, Brian Grazer, Alex Gayner
with Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgard, Ray Nicholson, Tom Francis, Brent Comer, Jack Ingram, Dominic Bogart, Peter Berg, Ella Newton, Lola Bond, Stacy Clausen, Billy Smith
release US 30.Oct.26,
UK 13.Nov.26
26/US 2h07

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Recounting a true story from World War II, this earnest drama mixes manly experiences on the football field and in battle. Even with several big-scale set-pieces, filmmaker Peter Berg keeps the tone intensely personal, drawing out resonant emotions as young men in their prime are sent off to an obscure corner of the world to kill anonymous enemies. So it's a mix of rousing sportsmanship and horrific warfare.

After the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor in December 1941, four top college football players enlist in the Marines: thoughtful John McLaughry (Galitzine), matter-of-fact Bob Bauman (Skarsgard), buoyant star player Tony Butkovich (Nicholson) and natural leader Dave Schreiner (Francis). After being put through their paces in boot camp at Parris Island, they first see action during the harrowing landing in the Battle of Tarawa, barely surviving. Recovering at Guadalcanal, the shattered soldiers are ordered to stage a football match to raise morale. And this helps prepare them for the even more unnerving full-scale assault on Okinawa.

Colour-drained cinematography continually reminds us that we are watching something historical, skilfully augmented by the occasional newsreel clip. As clever as this is, the approach both removes subtlety and takes us out of the moment. So it's important that the script maintains a terrific narrative drive, seeing everything through the eyes of these four young men as they face situations that are unexpected and unthinkable. The sheer joy of the football match is vividly balanced by waves of bleak emotion on the battlefield.

Galitzine, Skarsgard, Nicholson and Francis ooze charisma and personality, creating vivid characters who are able to engage us as the story progresses. This makes up for the strained near-silent scenes in which they interact with family members. Much more vivid is the camaraderie between the boys, reflected in tiny gestures by the actors. Side characters who are allowed to register strongly include Ingram (as a frightened fellow soldier) and Bogart (as their sergeant.

Berg also gives himself a plum scene as a general giving the requisite inspiring speech to the troops. But the film's relentless "let's win this for our families" sentiment sits at odds with the life-changing trauma these young men are experiencing, especially as the film hones in on grisly moments when they must take a life. Even so, Berg is an expert at staging both combat scenes and athletic competition, and these sequences are properly heart-pounding. They also carry a moving kick.

themes, language, violence 31.Oct.26

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