Red Tails: This movie didn't fly

George Lucas’ controversial new movie Red Tails comes with a pretty impressive pedigree. Adapted from John B. Holway’s novel of the same name; Red Tails is the story of heroic African American pilots that battled discrimination and Nazis in a segregated all black unit during World War II. The movie sports an Oscar winner, 2 Oscar nominees, a relatively hefty budget for a January release with a predominantly black cast and George Lucas, the Godfather of the modern event movie (Star Wars, Indiana Jones) and the creator of Industrial Light and Magic, the go-to Gods of special effects. Putting aside the racial vitriol that ignited the blogosphere that rendered the necessity for an advertisement budget to zero; George Lucas, executive producer, famously accused the Hollywood machine of not wanting to fund a black movie. My fear at the time was that Lucas’ words were a ruse used to garnish a robust first weekend in ticket sales because the makers of the film knew they had produced a clunker. Unfortunately after seeing Red Tails my fears were borne out.

The plot revolves around a group of fighter pilots, trained at Tuskegee University to be brave sky-warriors at a time when blacks were seen as not only lacking the acumen, capacity, skill or courage for flying planes but were deemed more suited for kitchen or latrine duty. Flying low profile runs the Tuskegee Airmen are hungry to mix it up with the Germans but they are often grounded due to racism and faulty separate-but-certainly-not-equal equipment. When the Allied bombers suffer catastrophic casualties during bombing raids it is noted that the white pilots sent to protect their comrades are more interested in racking up kills than protecting the B-52s. Most missions end in failure and death. The Tuskegee men are finally allowed to fly a bombing run. Their sole objective is to protect the “heavies” at all costs. Even if it means forgoing attacking the Germans and missing out on the glory.

The movie is filled with stock, pedestrian characters that were so thinly defined and broadly written it was like watching an ABC Family Special Black History Month Presentation. Surprisingly John Ridley (Three Kings, U-Turn) penned the script and Aaron McGruder (The Bookdocks) did a final polish. The result of what should have been a dynamic collaboration turned out to be a tepid historical drama. All the tropes were thrown into the mix: the crusading Colonel valiantly trying to show the white brass inside the Pentagon that black men deserve to die for their country; the fatherly Major in charge of his eager troops, the troubled alchoholic squad leader who desperately seeks his father’s approval, the flashy philandering womanizer with the best flying skills but the worst discipline; the baby-faced recruit whose only passion is flying. There’s a folksy musician, comedy relief, a soulful Christian who loves Black Jesus and of course the hot love interest.

Terrence Howard tries his best to project gravitas and idealism in a thankless performance as Colonel A.J. Bullard who is nothing more than a pitchman trying to keep the pilots dreams alive. Cuba Gooding Jr. is completely unbelievable as the sage base commander complete with apple pie charm and a pipe; channelling Harry Morgan’s less grizzled Colonel Potter from M.A.S.H. If they could have put him in a cardigan they would have. Nate Parker, Tristan Wilds, Elijah Kelley, Ne-Yo, David Oyelowo and Marcus T. Paulk were all likable as the pilots but given “very little” to do. Anthony Hemingway in his feature film debut lost control of his film. He didn’t push the script or actors into new territories. I would have even taken some Roland Emmerich style melodrama over the sodden work here. From the opening credits that resembled an episode of the Black Sheep Squadron to the tacit punctuations of racism throughout gave the movie a tentative feel. Still photography with thought bubbles would have given off more heat and emotion than seen here. It was like the filmmakers didn’t want to commit anything too bloody or too garish. They kept everything soft and palatable. Like celluloid baby food. This is supposed to be a war movie dammit! I wanted to see the balls out bravado of The Dirty Dozen combined with the heart and soul of Platoon mixed with the style and depth of Full Metal Jacket. What I got was a loose primer on one of the greatest little known stories about World War II.

I must say the bulk of the budget was spent on the spectacular air skirmishes. They were moving and well crafted. The climax of the film served up our brave men in their propeller planes going up against the superior technology of the Nazis Messerschmitt jets was one of the better dogfights ever put on film. Clearly this part of the movie was influenced by George Lucas whose better working with CGI than real people. But ultimately these beautiful aerial battles were nothing more than pops of color in a drab room. Acrobatic chiaroscuro in an unstylish remarkably un-violent war movie. Leaving the theater my heart swelled with pride at these great Americans whose sacrifice and determination made all of us, not just African Americans proud as they fought adversity. Unfortunately this movie about them did not make my heart soar.