As with other mumblecore projects, the plot is secondary to mood, naturalism, and the relationship between the two protagonists, but in this historical context that approach is more of a frustration than a virtue.
Overview
Kentucky, 1861. Francis and Henry Mellon depend on each other to keep their unkempt estate afloat as winter encroaches. After Francis takes a casual fight too far, Henry ventures off in the night, leaving each of them to struggle through the wartime on their own.
Director and cast
- Zachary Treitz Director
- Tim Morton as Henry Mellon
- David Maloney as Francis Mellon
- Rachel Anna Simon as Betsy Small
- Kate Lyn Sheil as Josephine Small
- Steve Coulter as Mr. Small
- Emily Cass McDonnell Cast
- Charlotte Arnold as Sissy Hamblin
- Samantha Jacober as Mary Gupp
- Annalese Poorman as Mrs. Small
- Morgan Raque as Warren
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
"Men Go to Battle" isn't always effective, in that way DIY filmmaking sometimes irritates by deliberately avoiding "moments." But as an offbeat lens through which to view an oft-mined era, it has a quiet pull.
The acting here, like too much of the film, ends up registering as unfortunately amateurish.
Striking in its evocation of a demanding time and place, this intimate drama about individual and national transformation heralds the arrival of an arresting new filmmaking voice ...
Though the film never deeply transcends its basic thesis about the ramshackle lives of frustrated men, the final minutes are improbably touching for how the story eschews uplift in favor of a more honest conclusion.
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