Mending The Line -
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CAT INDEX
CAT INDEX OVERVIEW
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Mending The Line | Reviewed By Gaurav Dutta
The opening scene of "Mending the Line" takes place in Afghanistan, where a group of Marines is celebrating their final deployment day when their leader, Colter (Walls), orders them on one final patrol. Everything goes wrong. Colter suffers severe injuries and loses many of the men under his command, including close friends. He returns home, haunted by guilt, and ends up in a Montana veteran's rehab center, self-medicating with alcohol. It appears to be a good facility with individualized treatments for each patient. Patricia Heaton's Dr. Burke tries to manage Colter's expectations while recognizing his impatience to be healed immediately so he can be deployed again. He lashes out at the counselor, who has never served, because he doesn't like the group therapy. Colter is a wreck.
On the other hand, although Ike (Cox) has been out of war for a long time, he still makes frequent trips to the facility, particularly after he collapses while fly fishing by himself. Ike is a crotchety, alone man who used to be a Marine. He only gets away from his mental problems when he's on the river. Ike and Colter are set up by Dr. Burke.Colter will learn the ins and outs of fly fishing from Ike. They spend a lot of time at the local bait and tackle shop owned by Harrison (Wes Studi), an old friend of Ike's. Harrison and Ike have a familiar, prickly, and funny relationship because of how well they know each other. Although Colter's training has its ups and downs, he eventually tries it out for himself in the river.
Lucy, played by Perry Mattfeld, is the third main character. She is a librarian who helps veterans at the rehab facility by reading to them. Lucy is a troubled individual who is restless and anxious. Although we don't learn much about her past until much later, it's clear that she is haunted. She, like Ike and Colter, is stuck. Lucy gives Colter The Sun Also Rises, forgetting that one of the main characters has been rendered powerless by a war injury, when Ike sends Colter to the library to get some fly-fishing books. There might be a little flash of heartfelt interest among Lucy and Colter, yet it's on the slowest consumes.
The fly-fishing sequences are stunning, and the landscape of Montana is breathtaking. The score by Bill Brown is of the traditional, sweeping variety, and its heavy use emphasizes rather than supports the scene's emotion. Without orchestral underlining, it carries its own weight to watch Colter cast his line correctly while standing in the river with a big smile on his face. Each character has a lengthy monologue in which they discuss their feelings and tell their story. Although there could have been more of the cranky old-coot humor between Studi and Cox, it was a welcome break. Ike, Colter, and Lucy are complex individuals whose deeply rooted issues cannot be wished away. Despite their best efforts, they occasionally fail to rise above. The film is saved from sentimentality and some of its more direct tendencies toward self-conscious "inspiration" by this dynamic. Life is tough. You never recover fully. You just come up with ways to deal.
Gaurav Dutta is a B.com graduate from Kolkata, schooling from St. Joseph’s College having a passion for writing since childhood. On the other hand, he also excels in the career of accounting and finance. A writer by his own choice, and aims to make a mark in the gaming industry through his coding abilities.
