REVIEW - HIS IS NOT A WAR STORY - by EXECUTIVE PRODUCER ROSARIO DAWSON.

THIS IS NOT A WAR STORY - FROM EXECUTIVE PRODUCER ROSARIO DAWSON. A LOOK AT THE HELL OF RETURNING WAR VETERANS. 

THIS IS NOT A WAR STORY from Executive Producer Rosario Dawson takes a sobering look at the returning veteran experience.  

What state were you in? One of the characters asks casually in the indie gem “This is not a war story” what state are you in?—the answer — “confusion.” This simple back and forth sets the tone. War is hell. For those that lived it, died from it, and for those that survived it. War. Is. Hell. 

Facts, most of us will never understand the horrors of being in the military and the horrors that haunt combat veterans. 

THIS IS NOT A WAR STORY begins in New York City with a young man, Timothy Reyes (Danny Ramirez) NYC subway system unnoticed by the bustling people around him. At the time we don’t know that he’s a veteran in pain and alone in a crowd, no one notices him until he dies from an overdose of pills. Another sad suicide of another broken and forgotten vet. Shame on America.

Timothy Reyes (Danny Ramirez)

The deceased veterans’ mentor Will (Sam Adegoke), is riddled with guilt over his death and finds solace in an artist commune populated exclusively by military members who are dealing with their relentless demons. Isabelle (director Talia Lugacy) also joins the artists’ enclave, where they therapeutically shred their old military uniforms into paper and create art from them. 

Will (Sam Adegoke) 

Isabelle has recently returned home in a space more hostile and alienating than being at war. Her brother and estranged mother (FRANCES FISHER) does not accept her identity as a Marine which weighs heavily on her heart. Isabelle finds warmth and understanding with Will and they forge a tenuous connection inside a community that is filled with mostly white male veterans. To this end, Isabelle begins to cling to Will like a lifeboat, which makes him feel uncomfortable since he was unable to stop Timothy from committing suicide, that’s his interior dialogue and his struggle.  

A large portion of THIS IS NOT A WAR STORY takes place within this small community and features a supporting cast of Iraq and Vietnam veterans and also displays their original music, artwork, and poetry.

Most of the dialogue feels improvised but that works since they are sharing their experiences of being in a war and coming home. Trauma is a tricky monster and these people share what survival means to them and their purpose of the art studio.

There is a big “metaphor” in the room that’s much larger than the proverbial Elephant in the room and that is the power of art to transform. The act of ripping apart the military uniforms and turning them into paper, as they work through their guilt, loss, shame, and sorrow is fashioned (by their own hands) into something powerful, beautiful, and meaningful. Inside that small studio, there is understanding, love, transformation, and forgiveness. 

Director Lugacy has captured an important segment of the population that consistently often goes unnoticed (shame on you, America), stumbling under the radar and forgotten in the country that they fought for. Shame. On. You. America. 

There are some solid performances under Lugacy’s direction with a heartfelt plot and a strong visual point of view. THIS IS NOT A WAR STORY is raw and it lets the story live without prejudice, and the result is having to look at the uncomfortable truth. Who cares what color flag you fly or what side of the political circus you prefer. These women and men made a hard decision to defend this country and when they come home from war — they should not be thrown away like garbage. I wrote it once, and I will write it again — shame on you United States of America for not treating your returning military veterans with respect and honor. 

THIS IS NOT A WAR STOYR is an Audience Award Winner at the recent San Francisco Independent Film Festival, and NYFA Women's Fund Grant Recipient (2020) and has played at the Woods Hole Film Festival (Com- July 31st, 2021) and will play at the Whistler Film Festival - December 2021 (Exact Date TBD).

IS NOT A WAR STORY Executive Producer Rosario Dawson. Written and directed by Talia Lugacy and starring Sam Adegoke (DYNASTY), Frances Fisher (TITANIC), and Danny Ramirez (TOP GUN: MAVERICK), Talia Lugacy (Isabelle).