Indivisible (2018) - Movie Review

Indivisible is a faith-based film based on the true to life story of Army Chaplain Darren Turner (Justin Bruening). A lot of people may be immediately turned off by the fact that this film falls into the genre of faith-based. But you can't always pigeonhole a film based on just messaging. This film is a family drama. It explores the realities of the toll deployments take on families. It is as much a film about the sacrifices of our military members and their families as it is about faith and redemption. In the broader sense, it is a redemption film, this one just finds redemption in faith.

Shortly after finishing his Army training, Darren Turner receives order to Iraq. His deployment is part of the surge ordered by President Bush in 2007. Turner is a rookie lieutenant, deploying with an infantry unit to Iraq alongside many who are on subsequent tours. While Turner is deployed, his wife Heather (Sarah Drew) remains behind to raise their three children. She has also volunteered to serve in the unit Family Readiness Group. While in Iraq, Lt Turner ministers to the men in his unit, helping them work through family issues at home. He also helps with the struggles of combat and the fallout of dealing with the death of friends. It is a mission that takes its toll on Turner as well.

At home, Heather deals with the toll of deployment as well. As a member of the family readiness group, she has the difficult task of consoling women dealing with the loss of their husbands. She also deals with the mundane daily tasks of raising three children while their father is deployed. But the most difficult task seems to be dealing with a husband who seems to be drifting. A distance opens between Heather and her husband as she struggles to understand the emotional baggage her husbands (yet) un-diagnosed PTSD is having on him. When the Turner's are reunited, the distance seems to grow, rather than growing closer. The struggle is not atypical for reunited family members. But Turner's struggles are as much about his shaken faith as they are about his own trauma-based pain. Reconciling with his family will be easier if he can find a way to reconcile with himself. And with his faith.

Indivisible offers a solid story. It provides insight into the military mind. The story is not atypical, although the perspective from the military chaplaincy adds a compelling element. A chaplain who is struggling with his own faith, while managing to support his fellow soldiers creates a nice foundation for this film. It plodded along a bit near the end, but most of the story was engaging. It was aided with dialogue that was nicely structured with realistic language and excellent dramatic elements. The characters were engaging and credible. Although the turn-around in one character isn't fully examined. The film also managed to offer some great humor along the way. It was surprisingly well constructed for a film with a relatively small budget of 2.7 million dollars. The special effects managed at that price point were better than expected. It would be easy to nitpick the special effects if the cost of this film is not taken into consideration.

Part of the engagement of this film is the casting. The film may not feature A-List actors, but it has quite a few familiar faces. Sarah Drew, who was also Executive Producer on this film, is familiar to those who were fans of Grey's Anatomy. I wasn't really into that show. Drew was exceptional. I completely bought into her performance. She was joined by fellow Grey's Anatomy alumni, Bruening and Skye P. Marshall who portrays a single mom who deploys with Lt. Turner. Tia Mowry-Hardrict, Jason George, Tanner Stine, and Madeline Carroll are among the other veterans of film and television who join a solid B-List cast. The acting seriously helped sell this film for me. The dramatic elements had a greater impact as a result of the solid casting.

Indivisible is a wholesome family movie. It explores the difficult topic of deployment and the cost of war. It delves into family dysfunction and the effects of PTSD on soldiers and the families who care about them. For some of us, this film will hit close to home. For others, it may provide a glimpse into the issue. The MPAA gave this film a PG-13 rating, which seemed fairly accurate to me. The film doesn't have issues with language, sexuality or drugs. But it does deal with war, with some tense but gore-free combat scenes. The film also deals with the death of soldiers and has some powerful scenes that surround that issue. It is a film that I would not place a strict age guideline on, but would suggest ten or older as a general rule. The film has a run time of 1 minute shy of two hours.

I enjoyed Indivisible. While I am aware that it was shot on a relatively paltry budget, the film makes up for the lack of big special effects with a story that had a strong heartbeat. The dialogue, performances and dramatic elements make up for the lack of strong visual appeal. The film looks good, in spite of the thin budget. The film incorporates some combat scenes that could have been more visually appealing, but still managed to capture the essence it was shooting for. I enjoyed this film. I liked it because it is wholesome, I liked the comedic elements, the dialogue seemed realistic, the performances were solid and the story was one worth telling. War takes a toll. This film is worth seeing at the theater. In spite of the restricted budget. 7.5/10.

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