2/5 stars

When I heard that Alex Garland was making a film about a new American civil war to be released in the middle of an extremely contentious election year, I was hyped. The idea seemed more daring and provocative than we have seen in quite some time. Sadly, Civil War lacks any real courage and Garland remains frustratingly “apolitical” with a story that should be inherently political. The result is a thrilling but shallow action movie with little to say with its fascinating premise beyond the tired old cliche that “war is hell.”

Set in a near future in which the United States has devolved into warring factions, we follow photojournalist Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst) who is traveling with several other journalists to interview the nebulously tyrannical president (Nick Offerman) before the “Western Forces,” a combined alliance between Texas and California, attack Washington D.C.

The film remains steadfast in its refusal to explain any of the factors involved in this conflict. Who are the Western Forces and what do they want? What has the president done to bring about a full-on civil war? Garland doesn’t even bother to ask these questions, failing to give audiences a sense of urgency. There is also some striking imagery reminiscent of footage from Vietnam and Bosnia. Seeing these images played out on American soil feels like they should be ripe for analysis, but there is no message behind them. The film says nothing about modern warfare or even photojournalism and only leaves us with sheer spectacle. The timid approach to politics gives us a film that feels like it wants to be The Battle of Algiers but becomes White House Down.

Written and directed by Alex Garland // Starring Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jefferson White, Nelson Lee, Evan Lai, Vince Pisani, Justin James Boykin, Jess Matney, Greg Hill, Edmund Donovan, Sonoya Mizuno, Nick Offerman, and Jesse Plemons // 109 minutes // A24 // Rated R

ABC News and longtime meteorologist Rob Marciano have gone their separate ways.

Marciano was fired Tuesday after a decade of working on ABC News programs including “Good Morning America” and “World News Tonight,” sources confirmed to The Times. The journalist, who most recently appeared on “Good Morning America: Weekend Edition,” left ABC News a year after Page Six reported that he was banned from ABC News’ Times Square Studios for alleged behavioral issues.

A representative for ABC News declined to comment Wednesday. A representative for Marciano did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

Page Six reported in March 2023 that Marciano, 55, was denied access to ABC News’ Times Square Studios “after he made a colleague feel uncomfortable” in 2022.

“He was found to have done something … that was improper, but he was punished for it, and they still haven’t let him return,” a source told the website. Sources did not provide more details about the alleged incident between Marciano and his colleague, but they told Page Six that he had “anger management issues” and that “there was a period where there were some issues, a number of alarming events.”

Months after Page Six published its report, Marciano celebrated 10 years with ABC News in an Instagram post in September. “I couldn’t be more pumped to continue this journey with all of you,” he wrote.

His post detailed his continued contributions to ABC News programming, and touted the opportunity to spend “more quality time with my kiddos on the weekends.”

Marciano added: “My thanks to the bosses who listened and made this work-life balance possible. I’m also grateful for an exciting new project with NatGeo that has me exploring some very very cool stuff… more to come!”

Marciano joined ABC News in September 2014 and covered a variety of natural disasters — including wildfires in Southern California and volcanic eruptions in Hawaii — during his tenure. Before ABC News, he worked for Entertainment Tonight and CNN.

On Instagram, Marciano had not yet addressed his firing, first reported by Puck News. His most recent post was a shared video with “World News Tonight” teasing his on-the-field coverage of Louisiana residents’ efforts to rebuild their community after storms.

NEW YORK (OSV News) – “We’re in the Nazi killing business, and cousin, business is a-boomin’” blithely declares Brad Pitt’s character, U.S. Army officer Lt. Aldo Raine, in the 2009 film “Inglourious Basterds.” The same might be said by the core cast of the fact-based World War II action comedy “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” (Lionsgate).

Director and co-writer Guy Ritchie’s adaptation of Damien Lewis’ 2014 history “Churchill’s Secret Warriors” showcases some clever ruses and innovative, spur-of-the-moment thinking on the part of the U.K.’s Special Operations Executive (SOE). But the mission on which the main characters embark also involves the enthusiastic slaughter of extras by the dozen.

Thus, while the educational nature of the story might otherwise make it valuable fare for older teens, the morally dubious gusto with which Hitler’s minions are dispatched renders this dramatization safest for grown-ups. Even many of them may not care for scenes in which throats are slashed and, in one case at least, a human heart extracted from its owner’s chest.

With Britain facing defeat in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1942, the SOE’s Brigadier Colin Gubbins (Cary Elwes) turns to a seemingly unlikely ally, Maj. Gus March-Phillipps (Henry Cavill), for help. Just how unusual their partnership is can be gauged from the fact that, when we first see March-Phillipps, he’s a prisoner in handcuffs, presumably fresh from the clink.

At Gubbins’ behest, March-Phillipps assembles a team of special operatives to strike a decisive blow at German naval power. Their goal is to sink an Italian warship, presently anchored in a neutral African port, whose cargo is vital to the continued success of the Nazi regime’s rampaging U-boats.

Among those March-Phillipps enlists for this mission are hulking Dane Anders Lassen (Alan Ritchson), wily Irishman Henry Hayes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) and expert saboteur Geoffrey Appleyard (Alex Pettyfer). As the action kicks off, Appleyard is in German captivity. But this, of course, proves no stumbling block for the resourceful March-Phillipps.

The crew’s on shore agents include saloon owner Mr. Heron (Babs Olusanmokun) and fetching Marjorie Stewart (Eiza González) who’s been posing as a New York-based gold merchant to grab the attention of black marketeering local Nazi commander Heinrich Luhr (Til Schweiger). As Stewart distracts Luhr, March-Phillipps and his cohorts prepare to attack by sea.

There’s a smug tone to the narrative suggesting that the picture is a little too pleased with itself. And some of the details are off, as when Luhr plays a song from Bertolt Brecht’s “The Threepenny Opera” on the gramophone. Both leftist Brecht and his “Threepenny” musical collaborator, Jewish composer Kurt Weil, were anathema to the Nazis.

But the main hurdle to any enjoyment of “Ministry” remains its vivid mayhem, which seems to exact about as many German casualties in two hours as the Soviets did in six months at Stalingrad. While, within the context of the period in which the picture is set, the only good Nazi may have been a dead one, the relish with which they’re wiped out remains unsettling.

The film contains frequent stylized but often brutal violence, some images of gore, a glimpse of rear nudity, at least one use of profanity and a couple of rough terms. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Copyright © 2024 OSV News

 Print