Being the rabid documentary film buff that I am, I couldn't wait to see Restrepo. And now that I've seen it, can only ask, "What the?" I really went in wanting to, and full well expecting to love this film- especially after the waves of hype, praise and hyperbole. So I anxiously sat down and proceeded to watch on site footage that looked like edits from the cutting room floor of some hopefully better film interspersed with studio interviews that were, well... standard, at best. I learned nothing new or revealing about war, its participants, its victims (aren't they all?), or Afghanistan; I did not see any great cinematic framing, pacing, or story telling; nor did I see any innovative leap forward of any kind in documentary film making. The soldiers leave at the end of the film thinking they were sold one woeful bill of goods, wondering what the hell they ever accomplished there- yeah, I left asking much the same.
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