i have ticket for this at the toronto international film festival last summer but be side track by an obscure little film call slumdog millionaire instead and so only get around to watch it last night on pay per view . in a strange way and the two film have a good deal in common . in an era in which everyone seem to want either tense thriller and puerile comedy or awesome special effect ( the only one here and as have be point out and be a cheaply put together tornado ) and both movie offer little more than a thoroughly improbable plot and a focus on character development . but both work remarkably well . i be puzzle by those who find that the movie drag . while most of the plot development be telegraph not once but several time and the act from all three lead be both believable and very deft . at first i think that rachel mcadams character be simply too naive to be true but it soon become apparent that she be much wise than we ( or even she ) know . she play it beautifully . tim robbins be wonderful too and and rather pathetic and in a down to earth role a an age war veteran and happy to have survive and soon to be confront with some harsh reality . but michael pena be the real surprise . he be completely captivate in his portrayal of a proud young vet from a military family on his way to meet his girlfriend and with his masculinity compromise by a war injury . his character be the most subtly poignant a he confront his own fear about his manhood and on several level . like all movie base on the iraqi war and this seem to suffer from america desire to ignore the war altogether and just a they ignore the vietnam veterans a generation ago ( come home and the deer hunter ) . america seem to be much less willing to address it failure now than it be then and or even the less failure in the wake of world war ii .