A Private War (2018)
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A Private War Movie Review
A Private War is a 2018 biopic directed by Matthew Heineman and starring Rosamund Pike. It’s a solid and effective, but ultimately flawed and uneven film.
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“Our mission is to speak the truth to power“
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It’s a very good account of a brave female journalist and I particularly liked how the movie did not really take sides and mostly just focused on her plight and the plight of the people affected by the war. Some scenes here are quite effective, especially the emotional outbursts and the anti-war statements.
However, because the movie is immensely episodic in nature, it felt overly uneven in pace and ultimately structurally weak and unfulfilled. The same goes for its pace which is rushed and most of the other characters besides her are underdeveloped.
I did like Jamie Dornan though. He was fine and better than usual here. Stanley Tucci is also quite likable himself. But Rosamund Pike steals the show and this is basically her acting showcase. Sometimes I could see the acting, but for the most time she excelled and really played this woman tremendously well with a lot of realism. That last interview with the real person just goes to show how she imitated her really well, but she also delivered in the emotional sequences and was overall revelatory.
A Private War is well shot too, but forgettable in its score and direction as Matthew Heineman is weak in the directorial chair and I could see that he’s a documentarian as the movie did not feel cinematic enough, though the war scenes were mostly well executed.
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The dialogue is terrific and in my opinion the best part of this film is the conversational nature of it and the emphasis on dialogue instead of war action. I loved that and I wanted even more of those scenes. I also found the protagonist well developed, though admittedly some of her scenes felt like Oscar-bait for Rosamund Pike. Overall, it’s a solid film, just not essential when it comes to war biopics.
A Private War benefits from a very strong performance from Rosamund Pike, very good dialogue and some quite moving sequences, but its episodic nature hurt it in the long run as the movie isn’t paced well at all and it felt rushed and not cinematic enough.
