Lone Survivor directed by Peter Berg stars Mark Wahlberg in
the lead role of real-life character Marcus Lutrell, to whom the title of the
film alludes to. It also co-stars Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster and
Eric Bana. The film opens with a montage bearing a heroic, awe-inspiring
quality that showcases the training regime of Navy SEAL officers. The
physicality of their acts, of them pushing their bodies to its limits, pulls
you in.
Film-maker Berg eventually zooms in on a certain bunch of
officers. We’re shown these guys as belonging to something of a brotherhood
with minimal power dynamics. Peter Berg believes he should induct the viewer
into this fraternity. In order to achieve this, he paints the gang in positive
light. Berg then introduces a comic foil to contrast how much ‘cooler’ the
principal characters are against how much of a dud this foil is. And In a
moment of crisis, this dud seems to have both difficulty and delay in recognizing the gravity of the situation. He is, unlike the main characters of the film, a
misfit. This is as far as Berg is willing to go with characterization. His is
a convenient way to get us to root for the principal characters, without
actually developing them. They’re quickly established as courageous, gritty
individuals who also have a boyish charm that’s likely to appeal to most
people. If only Berg had been subtler.
