Green Street Hooligans (2005)

Synopsis

Like two tribal villages meeting at the edge of their territories, Green Street Hooligans opens in the London Underground with the Green Street Elite football firm shouting taunts at a rival firm, the Yids, much like the Capulets and Montagues (a similar tribal clash). The prolog bursts apart with both firms beating the blizzard out of each other before the film cuts away to Cambridge, MA and Harvard University, where a grim (but lost) faced Matt Buckner (Elijah Wood) is boxing his supplies and is escorted out of the Journalism department by an armed guard. He returns to his dorm where we learn that his room-mate, the politically connected Jeremy Van Holden, has let Matt take the fall for his own cocaine habit. He stashed his coke in Matt’s locker; and Matt, who has just weeks before graduation and a prestigious career in journalism, buckles and does not defend himself. He’s been expelled. The Van Holdens are impossible to fight and Jeremy offers Matt $10,000 for his inconvenience, which he refuses (although it is unclear whether Matt ultimately takes some of the money for airfare). Jeremy tells Matt, he’ll hook him up after he graduates. Matt calls his father, a world-renowned journalist, but gets his voice mail. He’s on assignment in Afghanistan. Prolog Over.
A Voice over begins the meat of the film, while Matt travels to see his sister, Shannon, who lives in London with her husband, Steve and baby son, Ben. Upon arriving (which is unannounced and a surprise), they pass the scene of the Firm’s helter-skelter. "Was there a terrorist bombing?" Matt asks. Shannon explains the enthusiasm of Football and warns Matt not to call it Soccer.

Arriving at Shannon’s, Matt meets Steve, who has previous plans that evening with Shannon. So, when his brother Pete arrives (Pete is the current head of the Green Street Elite) to tap some money and a lift, he bribes Pete to take Matt to the West Ham Football Game. Pete is reluctant, but he needs the cash. Steve warns Pete not to bring any harm on the chap and also gives the hundred quid to Matt warning him to keep it from Pete; to use it at the Pub to cheer the lads.

It doesn’t take Pete long to negotiate for half the money, but Matt refuses. When Matt tries to kick Pete in the groin (and Pete manages to quickly dump Matt on the ground), Pete takes a shining to him and settles on taking him along. Matt states that was his first fight. "Do you call that a fight?" He does warn Matt before they go into The Abbey (the GSE’s home pub) to not mention his father is a Journalist ("Don’t care for journos, do we, although your Da’s probably the exception to the rule); and to keep his mouth shut, as Yanks are not welcomed either.

Matt generally gets along with the GSE, being introduced as the inspiration for the Karate Kid. There’s one exception—Pete’s second in command, Bovver, who shuns Matt and later tells him (appropriately enough in the loo) to piss off. There’s a jealousy (almost homoerotic) between Pete and Bovver. But Pete insists that Matt come to the game, where they have an exhilarating time. As they march down to Greet Street and West Ham Stadium, the Firm sings their song, "I’m forever Blowing Bubbles," and chant in unison "United - United" clapping their hands above their head. The shot is stirring and iconic and will echo at the film’s end. Bovver manages to taunt the opposing firm, the Birmers, who are itching for a fight after the match. Matt heads off alone toward Shannon’s and is chased and caught by the Birmers, who are about to rip his mouth open with a credit card, when the GSE intervene. There’s a violent scuffle. When Matt turns to leave, Pete tells him that "when it starts, you stand your ground." "But I don’t know how to fight." "Focus on someone you hate!"

After the fight, Matt is quite battered, but mentally no worse for wear. "Who was he, mate? Who’d you think about?" "His name is Jeremy Van Holden." Matt is immediately taken into the firms good graces, with the exception of Bovver. Matt stays with Pete the night and in the morning Pete tells him about their main rivals, Millwall, which they haven’t matched in 10 years. However, at that match, something really bad happened to their head man's thirteen year old son and the two firms have an undying hatred for one another. He also talks about the importance of reputation and that the GSE had the greatest rep under their former Major—The Major.

When Pete returns Matt to Shannon’s, Steve explodes seeing Matt’s condition and he fist fights with Pete. Matt intervenes and they tousle. Matt leaves to stay with Pete, while Shannon is pissed off at Steve. A fine family mess. When Matt and Pete enter The Abbey, Bovver refers to them as a gay couple, which almost puts Pete over the edge. Tension is there. Matt finally decides to stay with Pete getting his stuff from Shannon’s. Shannon pleads with him to stay, but Matt likes his new friends. She tells Matt that the Firm is not the answer to what he’s looking for, and he pops out a, "how would you know. After Mom died you left for a fucking foreign country." They reconcile, but it is clear the Buckners are a dysfunctional family. Matt still hasn’t told his dad he’s been expelled from Harvard.

On a rooftop, Matt tells Pete about his expulsion from Harvard and about Jeremy. "I’d kick seven shades of shit outa ‘im," Peter states. When asked what he majored in, and knowing that the Firm dislikes "journos," he tells Pete he majored in History. It turns out that Pete’s a History teacher. He takes Matt to school, to a football practice, where Matt acts as goalie and gets his ass whipped. Later, at the Abbey, Bovver gets pissy over Matt (the Yank) still hanging around. He leaves and drives to their rival’s hangout in Millwall, where we meet their Major, Tommy Hatcher, a brutal thug, who beats a table with a customer’s head. He lets Bovver go, but things are not boding well for Bovver.

The GSE are going to Manchester for a United Away day on the train. Bovver doesn’t show up and Matt wants to go. But Pete insists that he stay as the Manchester Firm is likely to get very ugly. Bovver does show up, but not before Matt takes the train anyway showing up with the Firm. Pete calls ahead on his cell phone and finds out that the Manchester Firm is waiting for them at the station. Since this is an express train, they smash the emergency stop and leave the train behind planning to go to Manchester in Cabs. No cabs. Matt comes up with a plan. A truck driver conceals them in his cargo container, while Matt (the Yank) sits in the passenger side. They pull through the Manchester Firm, claiming to be the film crew for the latest Hugh Grant movie. It works and they outflank the Manchester Firm, beat the crap out of them and escape; the police arrest the home firm.

The GSE’s reputation is bolstered by this ballsey move. Their "Yank" is famous. "So, you’re The Yank." Matt tells us (in VO), "that I never lived so close to danger but I never felt safer." As for the violence and fighting, "it grew on me. Once you’ve taken a few punches and realize you’re not made of glass, you don’t feel alive until you push it as far as it can go." In the midst of this euphoria, this change in Matt Buckner (even his clothing changes from jeans and loose shirts to an uniformed sleek black knit and he gets the GSE tattoo), his father arrives. Meeting Carl Buckner we can see why his children lack steel. But he resists his father’s demand that he return to school and the states. His father hopes that at least Matt is writing a story about these ruffians he’s befriended. Matt says, he’s not, but he does keep a journal, as always. His father does convince him to have lunch with him at The Times, where he is spotted by a GSE member, who tells Bovver. Now, Bovver is livid that The Yank is also a spying little journo.

The GSE is also excited that they have drawn Millwall in the FA Cup match. At this time, Steve learns from Shannon that Matt is a journalism student, while Bovver has descended on Pete and, while pawing through Matt’s laptop, finds the Journal and evidence that he’s writing about the Firm. Steve goes to the Abbey to warn Matt that he’s taking a very dangerous course, being a journo and associating with the firm. Before he can leave with Matt, he’s recognized and lionized as the GSE’s famous founder—The Major. Steve tells Matt about the incident with Millwall where Tommy Hatcher’s kid got his head crushed under GSE boots. There’s a graphic flashback to the incident. After that he left the GSE. "I met your sister." Pete shows up at the Abbey with Bovver and knocks Matt about, until Steve intervenes. Pete realizes that Matt is still trustworthy, which totally pisses Bovver off. He takes off for Millwall, where he tells Tommy Hatcher that the Yank’s a journo and that The Major is back.

Millwall comes to The Abbey before Steve can leave. They fire the place and during the melee, Tommy stabs Steve in the neck with a broken bottle. Pete and Matt manage to get Steve to a hospital. Bovver, who realizes what he’s done, helps. At the hospital, Shannon goes berserk on Pete. She was the one who got Steve to leave the Firm and got him to promise he would never be involved again. Matt calms her down, but begins to realize what a dangerous deal this Hooliganism is when mixed with revenge. Steve will survive. Shannon tells him that she’s leaving for Boston where she and baby will be safe. Pete has set in motion a "closer" with the Millwall Firm on the wharf the next day. He also tells Bovver to get out of his sight forever. Bovver, who has gone from jealous to tormented, hits the bottle and winds up drunk on a park bench. Pete tells Matt to go home. It’s not his fight.

Matt is packed to leave, but decides to go to the fight anyway. While they assemble like the fierce tribe they are, he runs behind them and joins. This full assembly of the GSE and the message music played during this scene, "One Blood" is a powerful theme punch; that the tribe stands their ground even when it’s not for reputation, but for retribution. And a Holy War breaks out in the films most graphic and horrifying rumble. Tommy Hatcher is bent on one thing only—killing a Dunhan, namely Pete, to avenge his son’s death. Pete is nearly killed but saved by Bovver’s appearance. But, when Shannon shows up looking for Matt and Matt stupidly calls for her (as she has a van and means for them to save Pete), things turn Medean ugly. Tommy sees Shannon as a Dunham and his lieutenant chases after her. She and baby Ben are trapped in the van, while Matt tries to get Hatcher’s lieutenant away. Matt is pulverized. Pete tells Bovver, "If you want to make up for all you’ve done, you save my brother’s family." Bovver launches at the Millwall’s henchman, but Tommy moves on them. Pete calls to him to come finish him off, but he would rather get at Steve’s wife and baby. Then Pete insults him. "You’re the reason your son was killed. You didn’t protect him." That strikes a nerve, and Tommy attacks Pete viciously, so viciously both firms stop their fighting and pull him away. But it’s too late. Pete’s dead. We get an aerial shot of his broken body, dressed in a white jacket, drenched in blood surrounded by both firms. They are stunned. Bovver weeps and throws his body across his friend.

In a voice over, Matt tells us that "Pete’s life taught me to stand my ground. Pete’s death taught me when to leave."

In true show me fashion, the film ends with a short, but poignant epilog. We get a shot of Boston’s Mystic River and are now in a fashionable business club. Jeremy Van Holden is with some friends who congratulate him on landing a deal. He excuses himself to use the restroom, where he promptly sets up to snort coke. Matt enters. He’s in his black, tight fitting turtleneck outfit. He opens the stall’s door and surprises Jeremy, who says, "Buckner. Is that you? You look like shit?" "You said you’d hook me up. I took the fall for you and you said you’d hook me up when you graduated." Jeremy gets annoyed, but agrees that that is true but to see his secretary. He’s in the middle of a meeting. Matt moves away and plays back a tape recorder with Jeremy’s confession. "What’s that?" "It’s the chip to get me back into Harvard." Jeremy lurches forward to get the tape, and like a coiled spring Matt pins him to the wall and has his clenched fist to his face. "I wouldn’t do that if I were you." The hand shakes. We know it can do a great deal of damage. But it relaxes. It doesn’t. Pete’s life taught him to stand his ground. Pete’s death taught him when to leave. So, he does. He comes out of the business club and begins to sing. "I’m forever blowing bubbles." As he walks down the street, more and more invisible voices join him. The film ends with Matt Buckner alone on a Boston street shouting "United", and clapping his hands above his head in unison with a choir of invisible brothers, who have granted him his steel and who, unlike his real family, will walk with him forever.

Performance - Elijah Wood as "Matt Buckner"

After playing a mute cannibal in Sin City and a geeky wraith in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Elijah Wood steps once again before the cameras, full faced and full bodied in one of his best performances ever as Matt Buckner. Looking back at all of Elwood’s many, many films, Green Street Hooligans fits his idea of a proper character arc in which to develop and inhabit a screen presence managing to stay with the film-goer far beyond the price of popcorn.

We know that Green Street Hooligans will be a rough and tough film from the opening line ("Fuck Me.") to its reputation (which precedes it) for incredible violence. The fact is, the violence is very credible and Elijah helps make it so as he develops from a near spineless likeable Yank to ballsey likeable Yank. We first encounter Matt Buckner at Harvard University, and he’s a real mope. He snarls at his nemesis, Jeremy Van Holden, but fails to keep the one thing he sees no use for—his reputation. Elijah plays these scenes with crestfallen emptiness, his face pained, yet bewildered. You feel like putting a boot up his ass, so wimpy is his act. One wonders, with his future bright in journalism, just how he would ultimately fair in the competitive world. He continues to mope along to London, to his sister’s flat and in a discussion about his father, a famous journalist, who seems to have abandoned all ties to his family. (There might be some parallels in Elijah’s personal life to draw on here, although Matt does not have a strong mother to rely on).

When pitted against the wild-ass, almost manic Pete, Matt is a shadow. Elijah follows him like a sheep. He follows Steve’s commands about keeping some money from Pete, like a sheep; and his attempt to kick Pete in the crotch dismally fails. When Matt is flat on his back in the street, we see him at his lowest ebb. Then, the good times roll and Elijah begins to pour more and more juice into the character as he drinks with the firm, learns their songs, puts up with Bovver’s crap and finally goes to West Ham Stadium for the match. Still an outsider, he melts back into the woodwork after the match only to be chased by the rival firm. We know from Elijah’s sheer portrayal of terror, with an American Express card shoved in his mouth and two Firm members holding him down for a trouncing, that perhaps it would be best they put him out of his misery. The turning point happens when the first melee occurs. Matt is told to "Stand His Ground," and to think of someone he hates. It’s interesting that unlike other "fight" movies, where the 90-pound weakling goes through a building up, instructions and points, tips and directions, the Firms just fights. Elijah is thrown into the fray with nothing more than the essence of the character he needs to become—the one that will "Stand His Ground." He survives his first fight, is given encouragement and some sense of acceptance, although they tell him he fights like a girl.

Matt’s journey slices across the path of Bovver, the jealous second in command of the firm. If there’s any ground he will not stand it is against Bovver. He gives him plenty of room. This is where a second theme is played in Matt’s lesson book. Standing your ground as "firms" are about reputation, something Matt lost at Harvard. Once it’s about something else—jealousy or vengeance, it’s a different business altogether. Elijah's character recognizes this and steers clear of Bovver.

Matt loves his sister, but they really don’t know each other well thanks to the distance of their father. It’s interesting that Elijah reserves one use of the F word (one of 13 times—a new personal best, surpassing Ash Wednesday by 6) for his sister. As the lost Elijah moves forward, he becomes more focused, steely eyed. He appears taller (thanks to perspective cinematography that bootstraps him up to Charlie Hunnam’s height in some shots using those famous LOTR techniques). He goes from wearing jeans, floppy shirts, gray hoods and overall soft clothing to sharp, skin tight, black turtleneck apparel—kick-ass, I’m cock of the walk clothing. He even gets a tattoo. (Chest this time).

An interesting choice Elijah Wood makes is in the school scene, where the British Schoolboys kick his ass at football. This would have been an excellent opportunity to sweep in some lighter business—some comic relief. But although whimsical, Elijah chooses to plan it deadpan (much like he did in The Ice Storm when Mickey Carver doesn’t catch the football, ‘cause he’s dazed or even drugged). Good choice this as we stay right in the progression of the story and the arc of the character. The fact that Pete tries to protect Matt by banning him from the Manchester venue and the bottom line that Matt comes anyway and achieves the coup de gras during the fight at the Stadium marks the last hurdle between acceptance and incorporation. Matt is now a full member of the tribe.

Elijah Wood’s ability to convey character through facial expression is a mighty facet in his talent. He has the uncanny capability of staring without blinking for long periods of times; and even during other cast member’s dialog, blinking in cadence with their lines. When he voices over the bit dealing with how he feels about the violence, it’s almost a wasted stretch of dialog as we see it in his face—blood from the nose and the chin seeping into a blossoming smile showing us his upper teeth in true satisfaction. As things turn uglier, the Millwall threat, Elijah manages to harden his face—a hardening we glimpsed occasionally when he played Frodo, but moreso when he played Mikey in Chain of Fools.

Matt gets a chance to Stand His Ground with his father. He wasn’t able to face his father when he was expelled. Now he basically tells his father to buzz off. But things are running their course. Matt’s defense againt Bovver at lying about his Journalism major, allows Elijah to become a little scrapper. Of course, this is the one time he does confront the situation between Pete and Bovver; and unwittingly strikes hard on Bovver’s neurosis. The fire at the Abbey and the hospital scene is a collage of emotion for all cast members. Elijah’s brash use of the F word on entering the hospital is the only time it rings false (but, in an interview where the rampant cussing was discussed among cast members, Elijah pointed out that Lexi Alexander made him yell "fuck" as he entered the emergency room).

Between the hospital scene and the Millwall battle, Elijah has little dialog. We are treated to an Elijah Wood silent movie during this stretch. We watch his eyes; his pensive staring out the windows, his smoking (incessant smoking) and the rich assortment of cuts and bruises (one of which, over his eyebrow - rumor says was real and permanent). Elijah is building to the iconic moments that are about to reach climax. He makes us write his mental dialog as he ponders the situation. His run to join the Firm is exhilarating. His performance during the last fight scene is magnificent. This fight scene is not the gratuitous tribal lark of the football match. This one is the blood feud of two warring families—The Lord of the Rings does The Lord of the Flies. It is truly barbaric and Elijah takes a pounding—yet, stands his ground and prevails. He even has a yell and facial twist akin to his "Gandalf" shout in Moria. But the cost is catastrophic. It changes him forever, as he voices over how he learned about when and where to draw the line.

We last see Matt Buckner confronting his nemesis Jeremy Van Holden. He does it as a journalist would—capturing a confession on tape. However, when Jeremy asserts himself he doesn’t stand a chance when Matt springs into action. Some reviewers detracted from the film because Matt Buckner does not beat "seven shades of shit" out of Jeremy, like Pete would have done. But Matt, in his exercise of restraint (barely so), shows he has learned the final lesson—when and where to draw the line. Elijah’s self-assuring smile and other worldly visage when he emerges from the Business Club into the night air of Boston tells it all. His celebration with his invisible "mates" as he marches down the street chanting and clapping tells us he’s off to see the best match of his life—the rest of his life.

The powerful performance of Elijah Wood in this film is remarkable. If he set off to separate people’s view of him as an actor—that is as Frodo Baggins, he need not bother. Great actors do not need to worry about such stuff. Elijah will always be known as Frodo and I don’t think he minds (terribly). After 35 films, he’s too ensconced to suffer from Mark Hamill Syndrome. But in Green Street Hooligans he has proved that his consummate skills will keep him before the public’s eye as long as he wants to be in that eye. With another Premier on the horizon (Everything Is Illuminated), an animated feature (Happy Feet), some more cameo work (Paris Je t’aime), another ensemble film (Bobby) and a yet to be named bio-pic of Iggy Popp, Elijah Wood need not fear a lack of work, even if Green Street Hooligans is the film Hollywood doesn’t want you to see.

Review

Touted in the United States as the Film Hollywood doesn’t want you to see, Green Street Hooligans crept into six theaters on September 9th and posted a weekend of gross of $48,000, that is about $7,000 per site, which Hollywood would not have believed, considering the top grosser of the previous week (on 3,000 screens), eked out a per site gross of $6,000. So, why is this new Elijah Wood film being released by its makers and promoted by Wood’s fans. Maybe because the Hollywood machine has misunderstood the film, thinking it’s a violent gang picture about the underground of a British sport starring a cute furry Hobbit. My, my—have they seen it? Have they bothered to attend a Film Festival where it garnered rave reviews and awards? Well, the cats out of the bag and this riveting, taut, well-performed film has made a mighty entrance, blasting to hell the finite obscurity of Hollywood moguls.

Simply premised, a Harvard drop-out (expelled) visits his sister in London has a chance encounter with an in-law who takes him under his wing and introduces him to organized British hooliganism, the Firms—in this case the Green Street Elite, wrapped around the fanaticism of Football (that sport we call in the states Society Football; or SOCCER). But the film is not about Football or the violence attached to the Firms. It’s deeply entrenched in primal man—the tribal man of the village. Margaret Mead would be quite at home (rest her soul) observing the rival firms standing and riling each other, much like Neanderthals at a Mammoth hunt. The script wanders a bit on a thin plot, but allows the message to be clear. When you share a central bond with villagers and stand your ground, you have invested your soul in the collective reputation of the tribe. Outsiders, who lack this, are mere wimps.

Elijah Wood as the Yank, Matt Buckner is superb as he grows a pair of balls over the length of the film. If you don’t mind seeing everyone’s favorite Hobbit have the stuffing beaten out of him, and scrapping like the Dickens and enjoying the violence incrementally, you’ll be okay. The acting job is sterling and filled with the steel that overtakes the character. His mentor, Pete, played by Charlie Hunnam, rushes like a river through the work, giving it buoyancy. Hunnam’s cockney cleverness and leadership keeps the film alive and crisp, never a boring moment. In fact, the violence, which is not gratuitous, but organic to the work, draws you in to take a good look. This is the real stuff and we want to see Elijah Wood slam and get slammed, and Charlie Hunnam lead the tribe to victory. Of course, there are villains and naturally, a moral twist as the simple plot and theme gets aced by human failures, which drains all the nobility from the initial premise.

Excellent performances are delivered by Leo Gregory who plays Bovver, the fly in the Firm’s ointment; and Geoff Bell and Terrence Jay, the bad guys, each on opposite sides of the pond draw our our natural tendancy to hiss on cue. Claire Forlani as Matt’s sister delivers a credible performance, trying to match Elijah Wood with Buckner family nuances. Lexi Alexander, in her first directorial credit, does a splendid job handling angle and shot, many of which are iconic and deliver memorable punches, much like Elijah’s Wood facial essays, which dot this film more than his others.

Rated R for language (not only the proverbial F word, but also a bushel of the more offending C word) and mild drug use, the only thing this film lacks is sex—and if it were included, that would have been gratuitous. With strong performances from all cast members and particularly from their flagship, Elijah Wood, this is one film that may not be for all young Hobbits, but (I predict) will linger in the halls of film favorites for years to come. The film that Hollywood doesn’t want you to see should be seen as often as possible, if not for the brilliance of the work, for no other reason than a firm vote of confidence for all grass roots efforts in the world of the creative arts. A+

Visit Elijah Wood: Performer for our Time

THE WAR (1994)

Synopsis

Set in the small 1970’s town of Juliette, MS, The War opens on a shot of a rather old, knotty tree, which spreads over a clearing. In the tree sits Stu Simmons. His sister, Lidia arrives and informs him glibly, "He’s back." In a voice over, we learn that this will be the tale of Stu Simmons as told by his sister. They drive across the dirt-poor landscape to an old chimney, the ruin of their house, where Stu greets his father, Stephen Simmons.

In a dismal shack by the railroad tracks surrounded by nosey neighbors and crying babies, the Simmons have breakfast—burned by their mother, Lois Simmons. We learn, after Stu tries to wake his father and his father impulsively attacks him, that Stephen has been away, suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome after his service in Vietnam.
At the local drug store, Stu is attacked by Lester Lucket; and after he gets licked, his father starts to tell him how important it is to control your anger and how feeble war can be. In a flashback to Vietnam, we learn that Stephen was in a night attack with his buddy Dodge and they were badly beaten.

Lidia, meanwhile, with her two African-American friends, Elvadine and Amber, gather junk from Mr. Lipnicki’s junkyard to start building a fort in the Old Tree. At a nearby quarry, Stu and his friends, Marsh and Chet have a run in with the white-trashy Lipnicki children. Stu gets whooped. When he goes to start building the fort, he finds that his sister has beat him to the punch. He races her for dibs on building rights and loses. Stephen referees and moderates a solution where the children will share the fort. He also extracts a promise from Stu that he will try to make things smooth with the Lipnicki’s.

Efforts to build the fort together fail and the boys lose their rights to it when the girls win a dare to gather an unusual assortment of junk. Stu plays a prank at the quarry on the older Lipnicki boys turning them into enemies as opposed to making amends.

Stephen, who was employed by the state as a janitor, loses that job. Despite this, he has a dream to buy an old dilapidated house. He manages to get a mining job, which pays more. The house goes on the auction block and Stephen and Stu go to the county fair to bid on it. On their way, they have a confrontation with Mr. Lipnicki, who is as trashy and as ornery as his children. Stephen manages to keep things barely under control trying to teach Stu that anger doesn’t pay; only peace does. At the fair, Stephen places a silent sealed bid on the house. While he’s getting some cotton candy for Lidia and Lois, Stu is surrounded and whooped by the Lipnickis. Stephen breaks it up and, a short time later, he gives the cotton candy away to two of the Lipnicki brood. Stu does not quite accept this act of contrition.

At the fort, Stephen tells the rest of his Vietnam tale to Stu. In a flashback we see how he had to choose to stay with his wounded buddy or save himself. Ultimately he saved himself. Stu promises to work things out with the Lipnickis. Meanwhile, Lidia stands up to her teacher when she discriminates against Elvadine and spends some time in the principal’s office.
There’s a cave in at the mine and Stephen saves his co-worker, Moe’s, life. Stephen is hospitalized in a critical condition. Stu remains hopeful, but becomes foreboding. He reminisces through his father’s footlocker, using its lock for the fort. Meanwhile, the Lipnickis have found the fort and attacked it. Lidia tells Stu that she took most of the materials from the Lipnicki’s junkyard. They try to keep possession of the fort through a dare—Stu and Leo Lipnicki will climb the Water Tower and swim across the whirlpool inside as it drains. Leo backs out, but Stu completes the dare.

Stephen dies. When Lois tells Stu that his father is dead, he will not believe it and becomes incredibly angry, then incredibly sullen. After witnessing the Lipnickis shooting fireworks in the fort, Stu prepares for WAR. They drive the Lipnickis out with a live beehive and smoke bombs. However, the Lipnickis counter with fire and fists; and things get pretty ugly before Stu realizes his father was right about war. Billy Lipnicki, who throughout the story is the youngest, sheltered and dimmest Lipnicki, climbs the Water Tower during the battle to retrieve the key to the footlocker’s lock. He falls into the whirlpool. Stu and Leo jump in to save him. Stu, after a frantic try, resuscitates him. Stu now comes to grips with his father’s death.

A few weeks later, the auction bid comes through and is accepted. The Simmons get their run down house—but it’s home. Stephen’s hopes become reality and Lidia voices over lessons learned.

Elijah Wood's Performance as Stu Simmons

At 13 years of age, Elijah Wood turned in his finest and most intelligent performance to date in the 1994 production of The War. His career stood at a turning point, with his younger roles behind him and a question mark before him that many youth actors face at age 13. He admitted as much in interviews. He would have a year’s hiatus before his next role—a teenage smart-ass in Flipper and the 1996 production of The Ice Storm, where his tour de force performance gave many directional pointers to his style and ability to inhabit characters.

Elijah had played and would play lost boys who need to find their way through character development. Even Frodo Baggins (an adult) falls to some degree into this category. But Stu Simmons is not lost. We meet him as he sits in the core of a tree, a tree that is as much a symbol of life as the River in his previous film, The Adventures of Huck Finn. But here, we have a Southern KID, complete with convincing drawl, who lives from hand to mouth. In many respects, Elijah initially gives us an empty vessel in Stu Simmons—a vessel that Stephen Simmons fills.

We first get the sense of Elijah’s approach when he wakes his father in the house and his father tries to strangle him before he realizes its his son. We get Elijah’s agony look, which Frodo would bear proudly in the coming years and also, what I call the what-the-fuck look; one of surprise that is part of Elijah’s eye-repertoire. Elijah Wood knows full well that acting is not line delivery. He could have been successful as a silent movie actor. As early as the film The Witness, he could deliver wordless scripts through his eyes and face. He continues to do that, i.e. Sin City.
The Drug Store scene allows Elijah to fight (he does more fighting in this movie than in most any other) and also gets pounded. He knows how to be energetically defeated, bloody lip, swollen eye and pissed off look. We will see it again and again from The Faculty to Hooligans. We also see how Elijah can be gracious to other actors. With his eyes he helps transfer other actor's lines or underscores them. Very little of Kevin Costner’s Vietnam homily has Kevin Costner in frame. It’s either flashback or Elijah Wood. Elijah is the vessel, after all, being filled. There is also a father and son relationship between the Simmons that transcends love. There’s trust and a desire for Stu to follow his father’s advice.

At the quarry, Elijah shows us the angry side of the character—but anger for a cause. At every turn, Elijah shows us that Stu has values—he honors dares, promises and tries to perceive what his father says is hope. Yet, he never lets us forget that he is a KID. His infectious laugh in the second quarry scene and his impish looks do that. Why? Elijah knows that in order to have a kid grow up and take responsibility, you need to have a KID in the first place. He also shows the character's fallibility to translate his father’s wishes. Managing anger becomes cleverness and backfires turning the Lipnickis into dreadful enemies.

"Lipstick and rouge," the set-up line for a later echo, is the lens that Stephen wants his son to use. "As long as we have hope, there’s always a chance." Elijah crafts Stu to see it that way, but stumbles. His father is an honorable gentleman in a time and place where "son-of-a-bitch" requires an apology. The confrontation scene between Mr. Lipnicki and Stephen (Kevin Costner’s crowning moment in the film) is a perfect example of Elijah Wood’s Stu Simmons as a vessel going into overload. KID and logic clash. Yet, he cannot fault his father too openly. That’s not in his character. Many a youth actor would have just been bratty and snotty or snide. Not Elijah. He is a controlled performer; and that shows most after Stephen is injured, hospitalized and dies. But between Elijah’s BIG moment and the Fair Scene lies the high drama of the Water Tower dare. Elijah, in these middle films, does a lot with water (Huck Finn’s river and Flipper’s ocean). What this scene shows is how dumb one can be when applying such antics as flaunting death to protect the ownership of an old fort in a tree. However, the script gets to repeat itself to show the homily of applying the same skills to something more worthwhile when Stu saves Billy’s life.

Elijah Wood’s reaction to his father’s death is nothing short of brilliant. He starts with denial, wends into anger, builds the scene into a tirade against God, pours out the tears, rips into passion and ends with a burst of energy, which segues to the next scene, where we see him in sullen, dulled pain. I cannot think of any actor who could bring this range of emotions off and tear out a viewer’s heart, as Stu, the vessel, explodes.

"Why did they take him off, Ma. Because it cost to much?" (the life support).

"I understand, everybody just gave up on him!" (guilt)

When Lidia explains that Stephen is an angel now, Elijah builds the scene— "I sure hope he does a better job than when he was alive." (anger at who) then - "What the hell kinda loused up angel is that!" (Elijah anger).

But, he saves the best for last. When his mother says that his father has gone home, Elijah turns on the water works, followed by intense passion. "We’re his home, Ma. The stupid Lord can have him later. Why? Why does God take everything? Bad enough our home and our things. Why did he have to take my daddy? What did I do so wrong that he’d have to take my daddy . . . He could have took anybody—Charles Manson; super old people that have already been rotten a hundred years. My daddy was only 34 years old. I needed him more than you God. I needed him more. I want him back Ma."

This is the high point of the movie and Elijah Wood’s acting career to date (1994). It is so powerful that the rest of the movie verges on anti-climax, the fault of script and director, not actor. We move to The War sections much like The Lord of the Flies, with Stu being a bit like Ralph, the intelligent warrior. It’s an ensemble bit held together by Elijah Wood’s frames. And just so you don't think I am totally biased, he actually makes a small acting mistake in this scene. When Lidia tells him that she has taken the materials for the fort from the Lipnicki junkyard, Elijah begins his reaction one beat too early, before he had the info to actually deliver his line. (Whoops). Or was he doing it on purpose to keep the pace. Minor matter (maybe).

Another classic Elijah Wood moment comes when he stares at his father’s Bronze Star held in his hand, horrified at how the War has progressed. We will see that stance and look again, when he plays Jack Dawkins with the Judas Guinea in his hand in Oliver Twist and as Frodo Baggins holding the Ring at the River Anduin.

The second Water Tower scene is much like the perils of Pauline; but Elijah gets to act again with purpose as he tries to bring Billy Lipnicki back to life punctuating each chest punch with parts of his father’s homily of hope. Billy’s angel lines are touching and serve to bring the theme back to Stephen as an "angel." It allows Elijah to complete the character’s journey with the lines, "If dad’s watching, he can go now."

Elijah allows Stu Simmons to become the man of the house. When they take possession of the house, he says, "Lipstick and rouge, Mom," the only time he refers to her as Mom instead of Ma, a slight movement toward adulthood and, of course, the adoption of his father’s exact words.
The War is a credit to Elijah Wood, a work that his fans hold close in their hearts as his performance showed the fullest range of his physical and mental abilities to deliver his craft. No one can forget the iconic moment, when the dirty faced, angry Elijah Wood looks to heaven and chokes "I needed him more than you God. I needed him more." Anyone viewing this movie in its first release should have realized that this young actor had delivered the goods and earned his Top Billing. This reviewer believes it was one of the performances that catapulted him forward into select roles much to director’s delight. This 13-year-old actor would in the near future command another Top Billing—in cinematic history’s largest grossing film series—The Lord of the Rings.

Review

The War is a species of film released in the early 90’s with anti-war, anti-agression themes that require movie-goers to commit to the view that the Vietnam War is a symbol for war’s futility. It does this using a metaphor used often before—the loss of innocence; in this case, a child’s. What complicates this film’s approach is the child is not innocent. Stu Simmons is a struggling kid in poverty’s grip fending for himself and family, while his war hero, post-trauma stressed father is trying to find his sanity. Perhaps, the father, Stephen Simmons is the innocent lost and visits it upon his family and, particularly his son.

The film focuses on the need to put anger aside, forgive those who wrong you, compromise for the benefit of the community and move forward with the struggle for hope with joy in your heart. If it sounds like a sermon—it is. What makes this movie more preachy is Stu Simmons and his sister, Lidia's struggle to keep and defend a fort in a tree (a tree-house). On the surface, such stuff ranks with Lassie or My Friend Flicka, with a slightly more meaty homily and a different set of dirty-faced kids. Added to the message, in this message movie, is Lidia’s attempt to bring harmony and understanding between the races. The only thing missing is world peace.

Despite this overblown capsule of Hallelujahs, The War succeeds admirably for three reasons—the focus on the relationship between Stu and his father; the continual development of Stu as a mirror image of his father, only a more adult version; and a fairly sound script, which only falters when it gets on its soap box and preaches. Any writer can tell you, "show—don’t tell." When the script tells us the themes, it sags. When we are shown, it shines. Fortunately, with the exception of the ending, these snippets of hallelujah are peppered throughout and absorbed by the incredible performance of Elijah Wood.

That Elijah Wood carries this movie is undeniable. The viewer is captured by his skillful development of Stu Simmons and the final blossoming of the young adult. It’s much like David Copperfield's journey, only ignore the Dickensian sideshow. The father-son scenes generally work, Kevin Costner giving a competent performance with only one scene with the full depth of his ability. Lexi Randall’s performance as Lidia carefully blends her into her family image. You could pick her out as Stu Simmons' sister in a crowd. Unfortunately, as she has the voice overs, she get’s the pulpit and the more maudlin lines. LaToya Chisholm’s performance as her sarcastic black girlfriend, shines. Her timing, development and intonation are right on the money in all her scenes; and she dominates all her scenes. Mare Winningham as the mother, Lois, inhabits her role as the long suffering but supporting wife, admirably. But it is Elijah Wood’s force that allows us to like this movie, admiring his style, intelligence and facial expressions. There’s a Shakespearean caliber culmination scene, which rivets the viewer to the screen, much like being drawn into the vortex of the Water Tower, which figures prominently in a long list of visual symbols.

Of course, when one is preaching, one knows the bottom line. After Elijah Wood delivers his forceful scene, the movie travels along predictable, if not entertaining, lines. The kiddie War is quite adult; and the denouement, the bitter-sweet happy ending, is easily forecast. After all, you can’t preach to the congregation with fire and brimstone without letting them leave without a benediction. The need to tie up all the various homilies in Lidia’s closing voice over and her little why life is a bowl of cherries essay, could have been left to Laura Engels.

On the whole, The War is worthwhile as a showcase for Elijah Wood and is worthy of shelf space for his fans. His performance is a must for anyone who had only seen his later work in the Independants or in the massive Lord of the Rings. With an often solid script that has sometimes too much to say, this reviewer would award The War a solid B.

Trivia and Notes

The Tree used in The War is not a special effect. It’s a real old critter found in South Carolina and fitted with the appropriate set pieces.

The name of the Simmons family car is Flossy. And coincidentally, cotton candy plays a role (as a symbol for sweet peacemaking) and cotton candy is referred to in England as candyfloss.
The family raises needed money for Stephen’s union card by refunding coke bottles. After his death and just before the word that their auction bid had been accepted for the house, there’s a close up of a new pile of coke bottles accumulating under the porch.

After the first Water Tower scene, when Stu has won the dare, there’s a shot of Elijah Wood’s face lit by a stream of sunlight on his angelic eyes, a Money Shot as Dom Monaghan refers to some of his friend’s facial poses on film.

The actor playing Mr. Lipnicki is Raynor Scheine, which to this reviewer is one of the cleverest screen names ever (Rain or Shine, get it?)

When Elijah refers to the Lipnicki’s as the Limpdickies, he comes as close as he has come to a cuss word in any movie to date. His first use of the F word would be in The Faculty as he sits in the boy's bathroom nursing a bloody nose and a sore pair of testicles (oh, I’ll say it - balls).

Elijah tends to get beat up in his movies. In this one he sustains quite a number of lickings - but his lip is cut in the "best" possible manner to underscore his agony facial expression. He would continue to have his lip suffer in other films right up to the current Hooligans/The Yank/Green Street, set for release in the UK (2005), no distributor in North America to date.

When Stu calls Mr. Lipnicki a "son-of-a-bitch" he has risen to his father's level. Stephen, in the drug store scene, uses "son-of-a-bitch" in a different sense. However, Stephen automatically apologizes for using the epithet, while Stu must be prompted.

The Lipnicki children, as an ensemble team work very well in this film with their drawl and nastiness - "goody gumdrops, I found ma’self a looock." However, their dialog sometimes gets too erudite for comfort, especially when they ask for rhyming as a dare.
The delightful musical numbers in the work from the three girls gave a nice flavor to the period setting.

The film’s sub-theme of Lidia’s seeking acceptance by another race is similar to the later film Black & White where the young white teens seek to adopt rap culture. However, Lidia’s efforts take a biting edge, as the writer wanted to make a statement about segregation in the South. To do that he created that unbelievable creature Miss Strapford, with her silly wig and her Life is But a Bowl of Cherries routine.

There’s a trend in Elijah Wood movies to have a tower or high place to dangle. Elijah dangles twice in The Good Son, once in The Two Towers, and once in The Return of the King. There are also tree houses and forts in Radio Flyer, Paradise, The Good Son and hiding places in North and The Ice Storm. North's hiding place is a Department Store comfy chair at the local mall.

The ride down the quarry hill is reminiscent of the Radio Flyer ride and the future Bumblebee roof racer in The Bumblebee Flies Anyway.