Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

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Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

R

Released Nov 18, 2016

1h 48m

Comedy

Drama

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Popcornmeter

44%

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161 Reviews

41%

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5,000+ Ratings

Nineteen-year-old private Billy Lynn (Joe Alwyn), along with his fellow soldiers in Bravo Squad, becomes a hero after a harrowing Iraq battle and is brought home temporarily for a victory tour. Through flashbacks, culminating at the spectacular halftime show of the Thanksgiving Day football game, what really happened to the squad is revealed, contrasting the realities of the war with America's perceptions. Based on the novel by Ben Fountain.

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Critics Consensus

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk has noble goals, but lacks a strong enough screenplay to achieve them -- and its visual innovations are often merely distracting.

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Namrata Joshi

The Hindu

At times, Billy Lynn plumbs the right depths, at others it remains a simplistic, overemotional and boring eulogy...

Jul 30, 2018

Full Review

Wendy Ide

Observer (UK)

The story, about a young soldier who is torn between leaving the army and loyalty to his brothers at arms, is affecting and well acted ...

Rated: 3/5

Feb 12, 2017

Full Review

Kate Muir

The Times (UK)

A film that's as clunky as its title.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 10, 2017

Full Review

Don Shanahan

Every Movie Has a Lesson

Unfortunately, any resonance is lost under a mountain of unimportant minutiae stealing air time and headspace.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 16, 2024

Full Review

Aaron Boalick

Vague Visages

Ultimately, Ang Lee delivers a smart war film that offers a great deal of empathy to its social actors while still remaining critical of imperialist impulses in American culture.

Nov 30, 2023

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

A somewhat engaging consideration of how different people view the idea of a soldier or war itself.

Rated: 2/4

Apr 9, 2022

Full Review

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Tom F

I enjoyed the book, a smart funny look at a complex story that hates glorifying war but loves soldiers. The trailer for this film makes it look like exactly the kind of mindless patriotic military-worship the book openly mocks. Worse yet, the film is about nothing at all, sure to disappoint everybody. After watching this I listened to the audio book (free on the Libby app with my library card) and I recommend doing that very much. I can only recommend the movie to those building a case against Ang Lee as a good director. Joe Alwyn does a good enough job with the lead. Steve Martin delivers none of the malice his character shows in the book, but I blame the toothless script. Kristen Stewart could have done a great job with her role as described in the book, but the movie doesn’t give her much to work with. They shouldn’t have shown the battle scenes or the Shroom character at all, and having Vin Diesel phone it in just undercuts his role in the story.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

06/06/25

Full Review

Aurora W

Joe Alwyn was AMAZING

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/11/24

Full Review

Bahad j

The movie was a very exciting adventure from start to finish

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/05/24

Full Review

Kyle M

Nobly grasped whilst also towards the attempted immersion next to being thematically retained, with an empathetically appealing cast, Ang Lee's lesser form may seem dated by contributive sense in its jointed commentary being minimally focused irrationally. (B-)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/20/24

Full Review

joe d

A very good film. I don't understand why it has a low rating. I'm a fan of Ang Lee and I think this is one of his best films. Joe Alwyns lead performance is excellent.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/09/24

Full Review

Danton M

Having read the book when it was first published, I am glad I got around to watching the movie. I see mostly critical reviews, but I enjoyed the movie a lot. The presentation of shallow citizens with no clue about combat probably angered many people, but I saw it as accurate and perceptive. It's not a feel good movie, unless you feel good about combat brotherhood, but it IS a good movie and I highly recommend it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/27/23

Full Review

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Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk: Official Clip - Heroes Onstage

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Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk: Trailer 2

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Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Nineteen-year-old private Billy Lynn (Joe Alwyn), along with his fellow soldiers in Bravo Squad, becomes a hero after a harrowing Iraq battle and is brought home temporarily for a victory tour. Through flashbacks, culminating at the spectacular halftime show of the Thanksgiving Day football game, what really happened to the squad is revealed, contrasting the realities of the war with America's perceptions. Based on the novel by Ben Fountain.

Director: Ang Lee
Producer: Marc Platt, Ang Lee, Rhodri Thomas, Stephen Cornwell
Screenwriter: Jean-Christophe Castelli
Distributor: Sony Pictures Entertainment
Production Co: Studio 8, TriStar Pictures, Ink Factory, Marc Platt Productions
Rating: R (Language Throughout|Brief Drug Use|Sexual Content|Some War Violence)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 18, 2016, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 14, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.7M
Runtime: 1h 48m
Sound Mix: Dolby Atmos

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