There's a disconnect in the new action thumper "Battleship."
Col. Gregory D. Gadson, an Army artillery officer who lost both legs while serving in Iraq, plays an Army vet trying to help the Navy save the world. He navigates a hillside as best he can on his prosthetic legs with Sam, an admiral's daughter played by Brooklyn Decker. The imposing Gadson does a nice job of portraying a bitter, intense and ultimately helpful military man as he and Sam try to stop alien attackers. The movie also briefly salutes a few elderly vets from various wars.
The problem is, "Battleship," starring the less-than-thrilling Taylor Kitsch, is an overblown, overlong, cliche-ridden film. It's good that our veterans are being saluted, but did it have to be in such a dopey movie?
It reminded me of the time I spoke with Capt. Jon Powers after he returned from a 14-month stint in Iraq. The former Army artillery officer was in Cleveland in 2005 with the documentary "Gunner Palace," the up-close tale of what soldiers were really dealing with in Baghdad. Powers was trying to get high school students, the generation that would be fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, to see the film, which he appears in briefly. As he traveled the country, Powers was shocked by the tremendous lack of interest in the war. Whenever he clicked on the news or picked up a newspaper, celebrity gossip or malfeasance were grabbing the headlines.
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