Hacksaw Ridge

It's been ten years since Mel Gibson last directed a movie, Apocalypto. He's now back behind the camera for Hacksaw Ridge, a brutal story about one of the US Army's most decorated pacifists. That's something.

Desmond T. Doss (Andrew Garfield) was a rough and tumble kid until he whacked his brother Hal with a brick in a play-fight. He grows into an upstanding young man who firmly believes in the Sixth Commandment. That's when the US joins World War II. Hal enlists over his parents' objections, especially those of his bitter Veteran father Tom (Hugo Weaving). Desmond promptly enlists as a combat medic.

Desmond's religious beliefs forbid him to touch a rifle. This infuriates his commanding officers and fellow soldiers. They want to drive the "coward" out any way possible. But Desmond proves too resilient and he gets to serve in the Battle of Okinawa. There, Desmond pulls 75 men from the Maeda Escarpment (aka "Hacksaw Ridge"). Even some of the men who mocked and scorned him.

The film opens during a brutal firefight at Okinawa. It works its way from Desmond's childhood and his courtship of nurse Dorothy Schutte (Teresa Palmer) to his basic training under Sgt. Howell (Vince Vaughn) and Captain Glover (Sam Worthington) and court-martial for his conscientious objectivism. It's about an hour in that we get to Okinawa and Desmond's eventual courage under fire. It was worth the wait.

The wartime violence is extreme: soldiers are set ablaze, mowed down by gunfire, blown apart and their mangled remains are shown up close. Meanwhile, on the home front, we see an accident victim's leg gushing blood. And let's not forget Desmond and Hal's near-fatal scuffle and Tom's drunken anger. A few more scenes of brutality become unintentionally silly with slow-motion. The makeup and special effects teams deserve praise for showing the consequences of violence.

Garfield's Desmond is a nice man in a harsh world. He breaks down once, while in solitary, but he never loses his resolve. His ordeal in Hacksaw is the ultimate testament of that. He even heals a Japanese soldier during the ordeal. He practices what he preaches and that endears him to the audience.

There are many standouts in the supporting cast. Vaughn's Sgt. Howell's insults are equally brutal and hilarious. Smitty Ryker (Luke Bracey), Desmond's rival turned best friend, is a perfect foil for our hero. Dorothy and Desmond make a nice couple, but she disappears once he goes to Okinawa. And finally, we first loathe Tom as a violent drunk, then pity him as a prisoner of the bottle and cheer when he intervenes in the court-martial. There's also "Hollywood" Zane (Luke Pegler), an overconfident naturalist who stresses when the bullets fly.

Hacksaw Ridge is a violent and optimistic movie. It's a compelling story of a man's struggle to uphold his beliefs. That he earned the respect of everyone who scorned him was the most rewarding part of the movie. It's a good movie for this Veteran's Day and all future Veteran's Day.