A special force

A few short years ago, January was known in the entertainment industry as a “dump month”—that is, the deadest of dead periods where studios routinely sloughed off schlocky horrors, schmaltzy romances, and other dogs. But then, on Jan. 10, 2014, Universal released the Mark Wahlberg vehicle Lone Survivor and changed the perception of what January at the movies could be.

The film, recounting the true story of Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell’s mission to take out a Taliban leader, had a strong patriotic, pro-military tone and became a surprise box-office hit. One year later, the similarly themed Clint Eastwood movie, American Sniper, went into wide release and astonishingly became the highest-grossing war picture of all time.

In the three years since, every January has ushered in a big-budget, reality-based movie that centers on our fight to defeat terrorism. This year, that movie is 12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers.

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, Capt. Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth), is tasked with leading a battalion of CIA paramilitary and Green Berets into Afghanistan to assist Afghan tribal forces in recapturing a Taliban-held city. The only way for Nelson and his team to navigate the terrain is by horseback, earning them the moniker “the horse soldiers.”

Things like the unexpected humor of the Americans’ quick education in horsemanship is part of what makes the movie work overall, even when other isolated elements are weak. Moments that feel authentic, like the soldiers forming unlikely bonds with tribal leaders, help balance out the canned ones, like an early and unnecessary recap of how Nelson’s team gets formed.

Perhaps the best thing about 12 Strong, however, is that it carries on the tradition set by Lone Survivor of making January the one time of year conservatives can expect to see their ideology reflected on the big screen. Though by no means a political seminar, the movie nevertheless seems subtly to indict the Obama administration’s approach to the terror conflict. After scoring a major victory, Nelson says to a subordinate, “It feels good, doesn’t it?” “What does?” the soldier asks. “Seeing one through,” Nelson replies. The soldier agrees but points out, “Yeah, we won the battle, but we still have to win the war.” The implication is left hanging—we didn’t win the war, and the victories scored by these capable, courageous men and others like them were squandered by American retreat.

Repeatedly the dialogue gives voice to the belief that half-measures won’t prevail against Islamic extremism, and the plot illustrates the complexities of matters on the ground. Not only do the horse soldiers have to contend with the Taliban, they have to manage the warring factions of the Northern Alliance.

The film misses the mark of greatness on a few scores. Most obvious, the language that was likely more responsible for the movie’s R rating than the mostly-explosions-and-gunfire violence runs to gratuitous. Men swear in war. I understand this. But the F-bombs don’t feel as if they were included to create a naturalistic sense of wartime speech but rather to amp up the machismo factor. Only slightly less noticeable is Hemsworth’s barely disguised Aussie accent. Comparing his performance with Michael Shannon’s as Nelson’s intensely intelligent second-in-command will have you wishing Shannon would have gotten the starring role even if he isn’t as ruggedly handsome.

Yet there’s much to applaud in 12 Strong, particularly in the second half. There, the serious history of what we were (and are) fighting in Afghanistan, not to mention what we gave away by withdrawing, comes clear and makes it well worth viewing and debating. If we can agree on nothing else, we should all be able to celebrate the recapturing of dump month territory for stories far worthier than cheap horrors and cheesy romances.