Making Picks for Draft Day
The specter of involuntary military service strikes fear in the hearts of men across our country — but mostly upper-middle-class white men between the ages of 18 and 35. And filmmakers.
The actual prospect of conscription being reintroduced in this country may be far-fetched, but that does not stand in the way of "Day Zero," a new film starring Elijah Wood, Chris Klein, and Jon Bernthal.
First-time feature director Bryan Gunnar Cole has not set his film in the 1960s, but in the near future, as elected officials take a lesson from the overwhelming success of the Vietnam War-era draft and decide to give it another shot in the far less popular Iraq War. But "Day Zero" does not attempt to examine the chaos that would erupt in this country were the draft to be instated today. Instead, it calmly follows three men who find their lives of privilege imperiled.
George Rifkin (Mr. Klein), Aaron Feller (Mr. Wood), and James Dixon (Mr. Bernthal) are high school friends who turned out so differently that it is unclear why they are still friends. They may have gone to Manhattan's Stuyvesant High School together, but they are meant to represent a snapshot of the American populace — if most American men were whiny, irritating, and prone to violence against themselves and others.
George, a lawyer whose devotion to his wife (Ginnifer Goodwin) is indistinguishable from a general spinelessness, tries every trick he can think of to get out of serving in the military. Aaron, a hack writer who's scared of weights and uniforms, thinks he will be one of the first to die because nobody will like him. His paranoia is often funny, and even occasionally accurate. It's hard to like him. James, a complete figment of Mr. Cole's imagination — he left Stuyvesant to drive a cab and be pro-war — is the only one looking forward to military service. But he is so revved up about joining the military that you wish someone had told him the draft isn't the only way to get in — he could have joined the whole time.
Trapped among the wreckage of the film is a sad Ally Sheedy, doling out trite advice as Aaron's therapist, and a listless Ms. Goodwin. While the hours tick away until "Day Zero," the friends have a lot to accomplish. James gets a new girlfriend and reveals a disturbing violent side. George flirts with self-mutilation, homosexuality, and homophobia. And Aaron makes a list of disturbed things to do before he leaves, generally seeming to prepare for a part in the sequel to "American History X."
As the three friends divulge more about their fears, insecurities, and true characters, the case for shipping them to the front lines becomes stronger. Risking one's life for one's country is a difficult, serious decision. But "Day Zero" makes it look at once trivial, naïve, and absurd. Far more impressed with its premise than most moviegoers will be, "Day Zero" unwittingly makes a strong case for why the label "The Greatest Generation," for World War II veterans, has remained unchallenged.
mkeane@nysun.com
