THE DRY LAND – Sundance Movie Review

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I just got back from the World premiere screening of THE DRY LAND at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, and unfortunately I can’t say that I was enamored with the movie.

On paper this should be a great film, it tells the story of James (Ryan O’Nan), a soldier who returns from Iraq to his wife (America Ferrera), family and friends in a small-town in Texas. Unfortunately, the war is not easy to leave behind and it soon becomes clear that James suffers post traumatic stress disorder. But no one can truly understand what James went through and he decides to go on a road trip to visit one of his army buddy, Henry (Diego Klattenhoff), who is still in the hospital. His army “brother,” Raymond (Wilmer Valderrama) tags along and together they will try and find a way to cope with their life after the war.

This story had a lot of potential as it addresses the very important subject matter of post traumatic stress disorder for soldiers back from combat, especially nowadays. I think that writer/director Ryan Piers Williams had a good idea and created some good moments, but overall it just didn’t work for me, and a lot of that had to do with the acting.

Now let me tell you, I’m a cryer, I cry in any movie that has anything remotely emotional, but I did not shed one tear in The Dry Land, which has some scenes that would usually bring me to tears. The reason? The actors involved in those scenes didn’t touch me, it didn’t feel like they had emotional lives. More specifically I had a really hard time feeling anything for James’ wife, played by America Ferrera. It just seemed that the fact that her husband was having a mental breakdown didn’t affect her as much as it should have, and if I remember correctly, I don’t think I saw her shed one tear throughout the whole film. Furthermore, the whole relationship between James and his wife was really hard to believe, there was something missing there. James actually had a more believable relationship with his mom, played by the brilliant Melissa Leo.

And even Ryan O’Nan, who carries the movie, never reaches the full potential that a part like that had. I kept thinking of Jeremy Renner’s wonderful performance in The Hurt Locker, and how he gave this character such a rich life, and I was expecting something similar in this film, but that’s not what I got.

I do have to mention one actor that really shine and that’s Diego Klattenhoff, who plays Henry, James’ army buddy who’s in the hospital. He was only on screen for a short moment, but I will remember his performance because of how touching and real it was. This is definitely not the last of him we will be seeing.

Two other actors also impressed me. One of them is Jason Ritter, who plays James’ friend Michael. Michael didn’t go to war and he is part of James’ past. I think the relationship between him and James really made us understand what type of person James was before the war, which is important in order to show us the contrast with the person that came back.

The other actor I enjoyed watching is Wilmer Valderrama, who plays Raymond, James’ “brother” in the army. I hadn’t really seen him in anything since his days on ‘That ’70s Show,’ and I have to say he was unrecognizable. His character also provided a window to James’ other world in the army, and he also provided some comic relief.

Overall, I went in The Dry Land not knowing anything about the film and came out a little disappointed that it didn’t live up to its potential. However, I do think that the film does have an important message and even though I wouldn’t necessarily recommend you go see it at the theater, it might be worth seeing if this is an issue that is dear to your heart.