Grade: A-
In movie terminology, a MacGuffin is defined as whatever it is that everyone is concerned about. Alfred Hitchcock said that filmmakers often spend too much time having characters focusing on the MacGuffin instead of how they feel about the MacGuffin. Civil War is almost all the latter, and is all the richer a cinematic experience because of it.
Civil War takes place in an unspecified future – but if you pay attention and do a little math, you can narrow it down, give or take 3 years. There’s a war between the states, and apparently it’s been happening for a while. We see obsolete stadiums (riddled with graffiti and made into tent cities), abandoned holiday-themed fairgrounds with the Christmas music still playing, and gas station employees are a little jumpy and suspicious of anyone just passing through, just fueling up.
The movie follows a few photojournalists who are road-tripping to Washington DC to interview the president (Nick Offerman from Parks and Recreation – recently in Dumb Money, Dicks: The Musical, and Origin). That is, if he’s still available to talk when they arrive, if you know what I mean. We don’t really know why there’s a war, which is just as well. If that information was dumped on us, it may have slowed down the intense, absorbing dramatic momentum, and all the jargon/buzz words might have gone over my autism spectrumy head. I’ve always been more interested in how everything makes people feel, anyway. There’s a chilling shot of an American flag, and you’ll immediately see what looks different about it.
The team of photographers includes Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny (the title character in Priscilla), and the great character actor Stephen McKinley Henderson (Beau Is Afraid, Causeway, Lady Bird, Fences). At the forefront is Kirsten Dunst, who has been one of my favorites for 30 years. Her face has matured, and she is weathered and tired, speaking in a low pitch and rarely cracking a smile. What she brings here is just right. Her real-life husband Jesse Plemons has an unforgettable cameo in a captivating scene. You’ll be hard-pressed to be mentally anywhere but the world of this film.
I just got a headline notification on my phone about an FBI director warning of potential attacks on US soil. Maybe it’s a little clickbaity and fear-mongery, but Civil War – the movie – coming out this weekend is timely. It will surely resonate with people, and start conversations. I don’t know enough about politics or policy to do much participation in those discussions, and even if you’re in the same boat, Civil War can be appreciated on a technical level, and for those topics that bubble up that you are aware of, whether or not you can scratch the surface. I don’t always get lyrics, but I know a damn good song when I hear one.
Grade: A-
Film Reviews by Mark 
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