Saw a great indie movie today that has had little coverage in the press. The Lucky Ones is a good story well told (as a woman I talked to afterwards described the film). It is about 3 wounded Iraq US Army soldiers - one woman and two men. The woman, Colee is a naive always optimistic and cheery private. The two men are an older soldier, named Cheaver now out of the Army with three destroyed disks in his back, and a young sergeant named TK Poole. Colee has a leg wound significant enough that she has a limp. Poole has been wounded in his "private parts" and is worried about whether his girlfriend will accept him. Cheaver has had enough of war and just wants to get home to his wife and his old life and job.

The three are stranded at an east coast airport when all flights are grounded and decide to rent a car and drive west. Cheaver is heading to St. Louis to his home and wife that he hasn't seen in 2 years. Poole is going to Las Vegas before he goes home to see some "special whores" who he believes can help him recover from his injury. Colee is heading to Las Vegas to deliver a special guitar that she says was Elvis Presley's (and none of the guys believe her) to the family of a dead soldier that she served with and loved in Iraq.

This is a road trip movie but not the usual road trip. Each has apparent physical wounds from the war, more significantly each also has personal emotional scars kept private (at least initially). Each will also have to deal with a reality of home that may not match the vision kept in their minds over the recent tour of duty. The three have their initial disagreements and fights but the clueless American reality w.r.t. the Iraq war soon turns them into loyal and close buddies (none had known each other in Iraq.)

This movie shows the stark contrast between the 99% of Americans at home who are completely disconnected from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and those very few Americans, current and former soldiers, who are carrying permanent war wounds. So much insensitivity and stupidity and callous disregard by the 99%, for example college girls in Indiana who make fun of Colee's limp at a bar where everyone is rapt watching a stupid reality game show. The very few who understand are all retired soldiers, including a police sergeant in Las Vegas.

I found many spots where I was on the verge of tears and I was at the end of the film for the next hour. FIlm is not quite happy sad.... a lot more sad than happy. It certainly had me thinking of and feeling for all those volunteer soldiers that keep returning to Iraq to serve more and more tours of duty because the rest of this country doesn't want to think about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, let alone volunteer for them.

DO NOT MISS THIS MOVIE.