I just watched Day Zero. It takes place in the near future, and the draft has just been reinstated. Three young men have just gotten a notice in the mail telling them to report to duty within 30 days. The film explores their reactions to this news.
I think the film could have been better if the writer had worked on the characters a bit more and hadn't relied on cliches so much. But I did like the film. However, I'll admit this might have something to do with the fact that it stared Elijah Wood. He played one of the characters that was unexpectedly drafted. I could watch Elijah do almost anything for a hour and a half -- scrape gum off the bottom of his shoe, pick his nose -- and I'd be a happy camper. He's sooo cute.
I'm a big fan of Elijah Wood, too, Gary. His radiant, exquisitely beautiful Frodo in LOTR sent me running to the message boards for those movies. I saw
Day Zero purely because of him, and I thought it was okay but wished it were a better vehicle for him. He's had a string of small movies since LOTR, the best of which I think is
Everything Is Illuminated. That's a movie more people should have seen; Liev Schreiber directed it beautifully. I have hopes that Elijah's upcoming
The Oxford Murders will be more successful, particularly since it co-stars John Hurt, one of my favorites.