‘ Long Road’ excellent, heartbreakingly real
We have always told the stories of war, going back deep in human history. Wars are fought for land, for power, for resources, over religious or ethnic differences, for no discernible reason. But we tell the stories of war, often glorifying “our” side, and demonizing the enemy. War is not healthy for children and other living things, the poster tells us, but it is an inevitable part of our lore as a species.
“The Long Road Home,” an eight- part scripted series based on the book of the same name by ABC chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz, premieres on National Geographic Channel with back- to- back episodes Tuesday, Nov. 7. The limited series tells the story of one day of fighting in the Middle East — April 4, 2004, a day that would become known as
Black Sunday. On that “longest day,” eight American troops died and 65 were wounded in Sadr City, Baghdad.
Created by Mikko Alanne, “Long Road” seems only briefly like many other films and TV shows about war. We meet the men, hear them talk about their lives back home, the words they use to try to drown out the fear and uncertainty in their heads, the ways they try to pass the long hours, playing Dungeons and Dragons in this case. And we meet their families, especially their wives, going about a daily routine at Fort Hood, Texas, terrified every waking minute that a car will pull up in front of their homes, three soldiers will emerge, dressed in crisp uniforms, and come to the door to tell them that their lives had changed forever a day or so before, in a country thousands of miles away, where their husbands were taken from them.
If you think you’ve seen and heard these stories before, you have not. Not told as eloquently and grippingly as they are told here. The stories of war feel achingly real, and they will break your heart again and again.
As the men leave Fort Hood for Iraq in 2004, they reassure their wives and kids that they have nothing to worry about, that the fighting has ended and they’ll be safe. The veterans of previous tours may know better, but no one expects fighting to erupt in April in Sadr City between the allied coalition and Shiite militiamen.
One group of American soldiers takes refuge in a small home, keeping the resident family secured downstairs while they defend themselves on the roof from attacks from all sides. Another unit is stranded when the tires of their transport are shot out, leaving them sitting ducks.
Lt. Col. Gary Volesky ( Michael Kelly) and Capt. Troy Denomy ( Jason Ritter) work feverishly to get rescue squads to the stranded troops, staying in contact with them by walkie- talkie as ammunition and hope run out. In between, for hour after agonizing hour, the men wait, aware that every passing minute could end up being one of the last in their lives.
Each of the eight episodes is titled with the name of one of the men, to establish who he is, where he’s from, what makes him an individual. Lt. Shane Aguero ( E. J. Bonilla) is an epitome of confident, calm leadership, but the responsibility he has to keep his men alive weighs heavily on him. Jassim Al- Lani ( Darius Homayoun) is a Sadr City resident who is castigated by Iraqis because he works for the Americans. But he has his reasons, he says, and when we learn what they are, we understand not only why Jassim endures wariness and even outright distrust from from some of the Americans but also the depth of passion felt by those living in the Iraqi war zones.
Specialists Robert Arsiaga ( Ian Quinlan) and Israel Garza ( Jorge Diaz) are best friends, always goofing around, anxious to get home to their wives, who are also best friends back at Fort Hood. Sgt. Eric Bouquin ( Jon Beavers) has developed a thick skin after having had a tough childhood. He’s wary of other people, but in the end he finds strength from his comrades in arms.
PFC Tomas Young, a bookish, awkward kid, carries a book of Alan Seeger’s poetry with him at all times. Seeger was killed during World War I, but he left behind the poem “I Have a Rendezvous With Death,” which has become Young’s favorite.
In a typically written war series, this would be a signal that Young is going to be killed on the battlefield. But this is not a typically written war series. For one thing, it’s based on real people Raddatz knew and reported about for ABC News. But Alanne’s scripts studiously avoid obviousness. The series is filled with moments when our knowledge of past, lesser films about war have conditioned us to expect outcomes that never occur. Real life, we are reminded, doesn’t follow a script. Nor does real death.
Throughout the story, Alanne takes us back to Fort Hood, where Leann Volesky ( Sarah Wayne Callies), Gina Denomy ( Kate Bosworth) and Lupita Garza ( Karina Ortiz) wait. We never see them interacting with people off the base, and that makes sense, because no one elsewhere could understand how much every minute of their lives is consumed by anxiety.
In a way, the wives are feeling what their husbands feel on the other side of the world — the smothering agony of being trapped. The torpor of war, especially for men stranded in the middle of a hostile, battlescarred Shiite city, becomes palpable in ways that most war films never seem to capture. The guys may be joking around, passing the time, but we know what they know — that any minute a barrage of bullets could rain down on them from an unseen attacker.
The series will thrill you, move you and, so often, reduce you to tears, as every episode is filled to overflowing with inexorable sadness, nobility and truth.
And all of this is because of exceptional writing and equally exceptional performances. The name stars — Jeremy Sisto, Bosworth, Ritter, Kelly — disappear convincingly into their roles. Actors like Bonilla, Diaz, Beavers, Homayoun, Thomas McDonnell, Joey Luthman and so many others may or may not be familiar from previous roles, but you will see them here only as their characters, and believe every moment of their time on screen. Noel Fisher is a standout among standouts, playing the young, optimistic and self- assured Tomas Young, whose life takes turns he never could have imagined.
“The Long Road Home” is beautiful and heartbreaking. It is not always easy to watch, but its truth is so magnificently insistent, you cannot look away. Without question, it is one of the finest television offerings of the year.
Real life, we are reminded, doesn’t follow a script. Nor does real death.