Very good film. Really puts you right in the thick of combat without giving some convoluted backstory of what led to war- which I like. Better to jump in head first than ruin the mystique of the how and why. It's a very well-directed film with some of the best sound design I've experienced. Seriously, you feel and hear every bullet fired, and that alone is worth seeing this in a theater.
All great performances. Kiersten Dunst was the standout. Jesse Plemons was amazing in a very tense, scene-stealing moment, and Nick Offerman playing the President of the United States is the complete opposite of what someone like Ron Swanson would do, so I dug that. Does this tell us anything new about warfare or being a reporter? No, and it doesn't look to take one side or the other, which I'm grateful for because if I want to lose a few brain cells or be lectured to about the state of the world from a talking mouthpiece, there's plenty of talking heads on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC who do that.
No, this is purely about a country divided, some wanting to stay out of it, and a few reporters looking to tell a story. I suppose. Dunst is the only one we get any sort of backstory or journalistic history on, since she's essentially the protagonist, but I do wish we'd learned a bit more about her travel companions. We learn enough about them, but I wish we'd gotten more. I'd probably give this a solid 8.5 out of 10.
And seriously, I do hope this gets some sort of award nomination for its sound design and mixing because it's just that good.