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Jul 08, 2016 By Zach Hollwedel Web Exclusive

The year is 1861, and the devastation of The Civil War has yet to find its way to brothers Henry and Francis’ failing Kentucky farm. Their life is defined by hard work, the struggle to make ends meet, and fraternal spats. After one particularly aggressive argument, Henry (Timothy Morton) walks off into the night and joins the Union Army, leaving the more reckless, less-business-minded Francis (David Maloney) behind to care for the farm and worry after his brother’s location and safety.

In promise, Men Go To Battle is the rare, quasi-oxymoronic low-budget Civil War epic. With few characters to follow, it suggests an intimate, yet simultaneously expansive examination of the American Civil War and its impact on families—in this case, two brothers caught in the midst of the conflict. In practice, however, it is a slow, often at times nearly too visually dark to watch, meandering character study that fails to deliver the exploration of the War Between the States it otherwise could have been.

I feel compelled to break the fourth wall here and explain that I was a major Civil War buff growing up. I still find it to be a fascinating period in U.S. history, one that too infrequently receives cinematic treatment. Thus, my hopes were sky high for Men Go To Battle. I wanted to like the film. I loved the notion of an independent, character-study film about two brothers caught on opposite sides of the “War of Northern Aggression,” which is why it is such a disappointment that Men Go To Battle fails to deliver. The film clocks in at nearly 100-minutes, but it is not until over half-way through that the war even really becomes more than background set dressing. Henry doesn’t take his leave and join up until close to an hour in. What precedes that is an often unspoken, yet growing rift between the brothers, due in large part to Francis’ penchant for the bottle and foolhardy spending. The war itself is but a minor detail in the film, and Henry’s time in it is all too brief.

Director Zachary Treitz’s film is an admirable character study (he co-wrote the script with Kate Lyn Sheil) and a notable achievement in independent filmmaking—the costumes and sets are particularly impressive. Yet, those longing for an in depth study of the Civil War are likely to be disappointed. Rather, the film is a muted, though successful and layered character study, set in the Civil War Era. Life in America was very different 150 years ago than it is now, and the filmmakers capture that well. They just do not do it under the microscope of the Civil War anywhere near as thoroughly as they had the opportunity or the foundation to.

mengotobattle.com

Author rating: 5.5/10