When Mel Gibson decided to say “Fucking Jews… the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. Are you a Jew?” while he was getting arrested for driving under the influence he all but buried his career. After a decade long banishment from Hollywood, the American born actor producer/director made his resurrection as the director of the religious inspired Hacksaw Ridge, the real life story of Desmond Doss, a United States Army corporal and combat medic during World War II.  He was assigned to a rifle company of the 1st Battalion, 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division, during the Battle of Okinawa, and became the first and only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor in World War II.

Desmond Doss refused to bear arms because of his beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist, and because of his faith in the ten commandments (specifically commandment six: ‘Thou shalt not kill’). While serving on the Pacific Theatre (Okinawa, Japan) as a combat medic, he SAVED THE LIVES OF 75 PEOPLE, while under heavy fire by the Japanese military. In a truly outstanding display of heroics, Desmond Doss defied all odds.

Regardless of how I feel about Mel Gibson’s past indiscretions or Andrew Garfield’s performance the story of Desmond Doss is one that every American should know. The first half of the movie places you in Doss’s childhood, where he injured his brother badly, and pledged his life to his faith (why he won’t fire a weapon). It also shows Doss’s father, who drank heavily to deal with what we know now as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD because of World War I.

While starting slow Hacksaw Ridge picks up when Doss enlists in World War II and ships off to basic training. At basic, Doss makes enemies at the base by refusing to shoot a weapon, even when his superiors asked for him to be discharged, when they court martialed him, and his brothers in arms beat him for not picking up a gun. Doss’s story of sticking to his beliefs is unheralded, and even worse than the movie depicts. In one of the later scenes, Doss (Garfield) kicks a grenade away from American soldiers, which leaves shrapnel all over Doss’s leg. What the movie doesn’t also display is that Doss was shot in the arm after the grenade blast, and actually crawled about 300 yards (3 football fields) to safety.

Hacksaw Ridge is a movie of triumph and will.  Gibson’s return and Garfield’s performance are not enough to bury the historically factual and well written film.  I loved Mel Gibson and writer Andrew Knight’s ability to stay pretty historically accurate.  Actors Vince Vaughn, Teresa Palmer, Luke Bracey, and Sam Worthington, all embodied their roles well.  I think my main gripe with this film is Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Desmond Doss. I think his portrayal comes up a little short and that is what bothers me most. Garfield who played Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin in the movie The Social Network and the new Peter Parker in the new Amazing Spider Man chronicles, usually outperforms the median actor for me, but this performance wasn’t one of his bests.

I wouldn’t say it’s one of the best war movies ever made, or even one of the best recently, but I can’t stress the importance of remembering people like Desmond Doss.

RJ’s Rating: 2.5/4 Stars