Indivisible
Iraq War Drama Recounts Army Chaplain’s Real-Life Ordeal
Soon after completing his seminary studies, Darren Turner (Justin Breuning) was commissioned as an Army Chaplain. He was assigned to Georgia’s Fort Stewart, but received orders to ship out to Iraq before he and his family even had a chance to get settled.
Still, Darren and his wife, Heather (Sarah Drew) took the deployment in stride, relying heavily on their faith that he would return safely and have no trouble making the adjustment back to civilian life. This, despite evidence that neighbors like spouse-abusing Michael Lewis (Jason George) had been left severely damaged psychologically by tours of duty overseas.
So, Darren naively bid Heather and their three young children adieu, oblivious of the toll that serving during the 2007 troop surge might take. Stationed at a forward operating base outside Baghdad, he would experience all the horrors of the war: sniper fire, ambushes, improvised explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar attacks.
While Darren was spared physical injury, numerous soldiers that he ministered to were wounded or killed during the intense campaign. Against his better judgment, he routinely hid all the gruesome details of what he was witnessing from his family.
Consequently, Heather came to feel that Darren was no longer connecting with her and the kids. And those suspicions were only confirmed when he arrived home after a year on the front lines. Jumpy and paranoid, the once doting husband and father was now angry, distant and mean.
Her patience wearing thin, Heather tells her husband he needs help. Ultimately, she kicks him out of the house, though praying for forgiveness for “judging something I don’t understand myself.”
Thus unfolds Indivisible, a faith-based docudrama recounting the real-life fall from grace of Darren Turner. Co-written and directed by David G. Evans (The Grace Card), the compassionate biopic convincingly conveys the idea that a non-combatant like a chaplain might very well suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome.
What sets this film apart from most Christian-oriented fare is that its characters are more complex than those simplistically-drawn individuals typically served up by relatively heavy-handed morality plays. Homecoming from war treated as more than merely tying a yellow ribbon around an old oak tree and leaving the rest to Jesus.
Excellent (3.5 stars)
Rated PG-13 for violence and mature themes
Running time: 119 minutes
Production Studio: Reserve Entertainment / WTA / Graceworks Pictures
Studio: Pure Flix / Provident Films
OPENING THIS WEEK
Kam’s Kapsules
Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun
For movies opening Oct. 26, 2018
WIDE RELEASES
Hunter Killer (R for violence and profanity) Action thriller about an American submarine captain (Gerard Butler) who joins forces with a team of Navy SEALs to rescue the kidnapped Russian President (Alexander Diachenko) from the clutches of a rogue, Soviet Minister of Defense (Mikhail Gorevoy). Supporting cast includes Common, Gary Oldman and Adam James.
Indivisible (PG-13 for violence and mature themes) Faith-based docudrama revolving around a marriage that ends up in crisis when an army chaplain (Justin Breuning) suffering from PTSD returns home following a tour of duty in Iraq. With Sarah Drew, Jason George and Tia Mowry-Hardrict.
Johnny English Strikes Again (PG for action, violence, rude humor, mild epithets and brief nudity) Rowan Atkinson reprises the title role in this third installment of the espionage comedy franchise which finds the bumbling spy coming out of retirement to apprehend the hacker behind a devastating cyber-attack. Cast includes Olga Kurylenko, Emma Thompson and Charles Dance.
INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS
The First Patient (Unrated) Anatomy documentary following a class of first-year med students’ dissection of the human body over the course of a semester at the Mayo Clinic.
London Fields (R for sexuality, nudity, violence, drug use and pervasive profanity) Adaptation of Martin Amis’ suspense thriller, set in London, about a psychic femme fatale (Amber Heard) who seduces three men (Billy Bob Thornton, Jim Sturgess and Theo James) after having a premonition that she’ll be murdered by one of them. With Gemma Chan, Jaimie Alexander and Jason Isaacs.
The Long Shadow (Unrated) Justice delayed documentary, co-directed by Frances Causey and Maureen Gosling, both descendants of slave owners, examining the continued discrimination against African-Americans in the U.S. from emancipation to the present.
Monrovia, Indiana (Unrated) Rust Belt documentary chronicling the diminished dreams of the 46 million Americans living in rural, small towns like Monrovia, Ind.
Suspiria (R for gore, graphic nudity, disturbing images, ritualistic violence, profanity and sexual references) Horror flick, set in Berlin in 1977, revolving around a nightmare plaguing a grieving shrink (Lutz Ebersdorf) and members of a world-renowned dance troupe. Cast includes Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton and Chloe Grace Moretz. (In German, English and French with subtitles.)
Viper Club (R for profanity and disturbing images) Middle East political thriller about a nurse (Susan Sarandon) who turns to philanthropists for help freeing her kidnapped son (Julian Morris), when the U.S. government’s efforts negotiating with ISIS prove ineffective. With Matt Bomer, Lola Kirk and Edie Falco.
Weed the People (Unrated) Healthcare documentary making the case for the use of medical marijuana in the treatment of childhood cancers.
