Lucky Strike – Budget Unknown – 1 hour and 42 minutes
 Not Available Yet |
Colonel John Castle knocks on Rose’s door. She keeps the chain in place as she peers through the crack. Rose doesn’t want to open it for a man in uniform. She’s been in a pension dispute, and someone instructed her that the military wasn’t her friend. However, John convinces her to give him a moment of her time. She opens the door and offers him a cup of coffee. He spikes it with alcohol when he notices a soldier’s photo with a black ribbon around it. She lost a loved one in World War II. John was there and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He stares at the photo and thinks back to that time, recalling his story for her.
Captain John led the 324th Engineer Battalion in the Ardennes during December 1944. He demands Sargent Cash to go to the field hospital after losing three fingers. A fellow soldier enters and notices that Cash doesn’t light his Lucky Strike cigarette the proper way. He corrects his mistake before entering the tent. The major gives his team direct orders to set off explosives in a significant roadway, blocking the German soldiers’ pathway. The American soldiers grab their radio, named Lassie, a jeep, and drive down the road.
The jeep stalls when the engine floods, so they walk to the roadway. They set up explosives when they come under heavy artillery fire. They spot the bunker at the top of the hill, and some soldiers take cover while John and another soldier belly-crawl to it. They throw in a grenade, killing one German soldier while wounding the other. The wounded soldier pulls out a grenade, and John’s comrade saves John by covering the grenade with his body. John watches his men from the bunker as they finish the setup. Then, he sees a tank of German soldiers arrive. He quietly prays for his men to hide, and they do. But the German soldiers spot them. All of John’s men die.
John grabs Lassie and calls for help. He radios his coordinates, but the cavalry is under heavy fire and can’t get to him. And John is behind enemy lines. They need John to get to Elsenborn, 30 kilometers away, so they can help him. John will survive, but he won’t do it alone.
Inspired by a true story, this film will make you hold your breath as John plays dead with the Germans surrounding him. The director captured the sounds of war with the backing track enhancing the action, instead of masking it. The director used practical lighting and well-placed explosives to put the audience in the thick of the battle. While the movie isn’t as gory as other war-based films, the makeup department created some horrific wounds. It was the moments that John was silent, alone with bullets flying overhead while he quietly prayed for it to stop that stick with you. Although you know he survived, you will pray with him. And the masterful storytelling brings the story full circle to Rose in a way you will never see coming. Warning: this film isn’t for people with war-related PTSD. However, the surprising and complex ending will leave an unexpected smile on your face.
I give it 5 out of 5 stars
You memorized it – Rose
Where’s the radio – Col. John Castle
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