X
- 2010
- R
- Freestyle Releasing
- 1 h 32 m
- 2010
- R
- Freestyle Releasing
- 1 h 32 m
Summary A U.S. soldier returning home from war struggles to reconcile his experiences abroad with the life and family he left in Texas.
Directed By: Ryan Piers Williams
Written By: Ryan Piers Williams
- 2010
- R
- Freestyle Releasing
- 1 h 32 m
- 2010
- R
- Freestyle Releasing
- 1 h 32 m
The Dry Land
47
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Summary A U.S. soldier returning home from war struggles to reconcile his experiences abroad with the life and family he left in Texas.
Directed By: Ryan Piers Williams
Written By: Ryan Piers Williams
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
47
30% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
60% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
10% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
47
30% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
60% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
10% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Ferrera proves herself to be just as talented in dramatic roles.
The Dry Land does slip inside the inescapable, closed-circle logic of despair, and O'Nan's shy, precarious performance keeps you with him to the edge of the abyss.
There's nothing in director Ryan Piers Williams' script that elevates this film above others with similar themes. But his heartfelt approach can be seen in the committed cast -- led by O'Nan but also including Valderrama, whose quietly authentic work is a nice surprise.
A little focus might have helped. Or not: The Dry Land seems intent to tick off a checklist of PTSD symptoms without animating them with fresh details or creative life. It's cloaked in an earnestness that suffocates.
Shaped more for message than for convincing narrative impact, The Dry Land ends up feeling like a PSA to raise awareness of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Only jackanapes and jackasses would deny that the experience of war can cause psychic damage, but does that mean we have to sit through such a schematic, dogmatic melodrama about the subject?
A painfully earnest drama about post-traumatic stress disorder that sticks so closely to the soldiers-coming-home template, writer-director Ryan Piers Williams seems to be diligently working through a checklist of returning-warrior-movie clichés.
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Production Company
Maya Entertainment,
Take Fountain Productions,
Besito Films
Release Date Jul 30, 2010
Duration 1 h 32 m
Rating R
Genres
Awards
Imagen Foundation Awards
• 2 Nominations
Edinburgh International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Sundance Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
