Peter Berg, who was recently entrusted by Paramount to direct "Call of Duty," used to get moderately positive reviews from critics. The last 10 years or so? Forget about it.
A few months ago, Variety reported that, spurred by strong test scores, Netflix planned to push Berg's latest, the WWII drama "The Mosquito Bowl," this awards season. It's not a stretch to believe those plans have now changed. The film's early reviews are not good.
"The Mosquito Bowl," which hits a small batch of theaters for Oscar-qualifying purposes, currently sits at 39% on Rotten Tomatoes and 42 on Metacritic. Many of its detractors have taken issue with the film's patriotism.
The A.V. Club, who gave it a D+, wrote that the only heroes are a quartet of "unbelievably patriotic athletes." He also objected to the film's use of newsreel footage of Japanese atrocities without historical context . RogerEbert.com questioned whether the film's bombing scenes are meant to feel triumphant, noting that a Statue of Liberty image signals patriotism rather than condemnation. Flickering Myth's Robert Kojder criticized the film's "jingoistic patriotism.” Variety, meanwhile, complained that the film "doesn't challenge its heroic leads on the racist invective they parrot, or circle back to any regret they may feel."
To be clear, unadorned patriotism isn't reason enough for me to dislike a film. Berg clearly has reverence and respect for these men, but that alone does not make a great war movie. The pull of the story, and the way it's told, matter more. Some of the great American war movies have been unabashedly patriotic: William Wyler's "The Best Years of Our Lives," Franklin J. Schaffner's "Patton" and Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" come to mind.
Berg, for his part, has said the film honors military sacrifice while warning against war. ‘Mosquito Bowl’ looks like something Clint Eastwood would have released in the aughts, specifically in 2006, when his double-bill war saga, "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters from Iwo Jima," came out, only not as good. Berg, aided by cinematographer Jacques Jouffret, uses the same muted, desaturated color palette Eastwood employed in those films.
Based on the New York Times bestseller by Pulitzer Prize winner Buzz Bissinger, the film stars Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgård, Ray Nicholson and Tom Francis. It tells the story of four of America's most celebrated college football players, who put their athletic careers on hold to enlist in the Marines after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Oh, and yes, that's Pat McAfee playing a drill instructor, which is a performance that’s being trashed in rebiews. Berg and Mark L. Smith ("The Revenant") wrote the screenplay.
Listen, I've liked some of Berg's films, mostly "Friday Night Lights," "Lone Survivor" and "Patriots Day," but he's been stuck in a rut of late, with two consecutive duds: a Netflix abomination ("Spenser Confidential") and a failed CIA thriller ("Mile 22"). Of course, "The Mosquito Bowl" seems very much like a Peter Berg movie, with its rural, conservative America and blue-collar, middle-class heroes on duty, serving and protecting. He's also been buddying up with Taylor Sheridan of late; the two are reportedly teaming up on that "Call of Duty" movie — which he’s described as a “war movie” about “warriors.” We’ll see how that one turns out.
"The Mosquito Bowl," which hits a small batch of theaters for Oscar-qualifying purposes, currently sits at 39% on Rotten Tomatoes and 42 on Metacritic. Many of its detractors dislike the film's patriotism.