jwcdood
THE PATROL is a drama, not an action flick, portraying the tedium, boring monotony and hopelessness soldiers experience in the face of poor situational logistical, strategic and tactical planning. It's a very effective and well done movie, but very uninspiring and depressing. In short, even though it's well done, it's not what most would feel is fit consumption for entertainment.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
12/06/23
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Norberto M
War is not pretty, fun or sexy. The truth is the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were utterly purposeless. Not at all the just war we tried to make it out to be so we can justify the death counts on both sides.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
09/30/23
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Audience Member
About as unreservedly anti-war as you can get. Terrible acting, poor casting as just about none of them convinced as soldiers. There were a couple of tense scenes at best but this was horrible cliché stuff like the officer class being incompetent and brave privates suddenly losing their professionalism and becoming disillusioned. The whole thing was far from credible. Just all round poor. Only positives are that it was fairly well shot.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
01/28/23
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Audience Member
Watchable but wouldn't say it was particularly great or worthy of any best film awards
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/25/23
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Audience Member
It's been said 99% of real war is bore and so is the movie, what the director aim's for is not entertainment but to convey the waste of war. This is an anti-war movie with a realistic take on war, on how unprepared the soldiers are, how boring it is and how they want to avoid meaningless action. Good effort for a low budget movie but could have done better job all around.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
01/13/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Recently Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, the impregnable military base the size of Reading, has been handed over to the Afghan National Army. We've spent over a decade slogging it out with the Taliban. Now no more British soldiers remain at Camp Bastion, we scrutinize the British army's role in Afghanistan. Was this ever our war? It's the question emerging director, Tom Petch, asks us in this clever, reflective movie.
Petch takes us back to 2006, a year of heated conflict; a small unit is sent on a three day patrol. An unexpected ambush from allied special forces in the region triggers an increase in Taliban attack, which prolongs the patrol for nearly two weeks. As the heat of the conflict intensifies, the unfortunately named Operation Icarus pushes individual to reach their limits.
An already declining morale really builds speed when likeable Welshman, Taff, who is always cracking jokes and diffusing the tension in the unit takes a direct hit to the chest and is rushed to the trauma centre. The bullet hits all the boys hard and an out of touch captain fails to patch up the punctured morale, which bleeds away.
A former tank officer in the Queen's Own Hussars, Tom Petch's army experience shows in the film. The familiar army characters are all very believable and the dialogue spot on, particularly the military lingo and the cutting banter, trademarks of the British army. As the conflict intensifies with more attacks from the Taliban, however, that friendly banter turn viscous and everyone starts taking personal digs.
There's a story of class struggle and a captain's inability to discipline his unit. When a solider refuses to go on patrol, staff sergeant 'Sol' (Nicholas Beveny) fronts up and says 'Do you know what the f**k you're saying soldier?' Captain Richardson (Ben Righton) takes a more sympathetic tone, crouches down and tells him he can stay at the base helping the lieutenant with signals. Sergeant gives a disapproving nod to his captain.
The captain comes across like a school teacher trying too hard to fit in with the kids and failing to earn their respect. He takes favourites and goes easy on people with softer voices. As one soldier remarks 'we all get the same medal, just some of us get shot at.' It highlights a palpable tension between ranks.
But everyone in the unit struggles and the cinematography does a brilliant job of capturing the sense of isolation and abandonment that all the soldiers experience. The soldiers are 'out there like sitting ducks', as sergeant Sol puts it, without armoured vehicles, lacking ammunition and low on basic supplies. There's a sense they've been abandoned in the barren purgatorial landscape. And they're just holding up until it's time to go home.
The Patrol isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. Although the plots aimlessness may be a deliberate attempt to capture the soldiers sense of aimlessness, it does tax your patience. And like the soldiers on patrol you find yourself struggling to stay alert, feeling the sand settling in the corners of your eyes. The monotony of the patrol is occasionally broken by very realistic and heart thumping firefights, but there just isn't enough of it. Still, it's a great debut for a low budget film and paints a candid portrait of the war, highlighting how many of the boys' hearts just weren't in it.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/15/23
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