DVD Review: Day Zero

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Day Zero (2007)–**1/2
DVD Review

Day Zero is more of a conversation starter than a watchable film. The drama, set in a near future where the draft is reinstated due to an escalated confrontation in the Middle East, languishes in the realm of politics for too long. In the early scenes, the tone is set for a cable news-level debate, without much concern for the story. Surprisingly enough, when Day Zero sheds its political skin we can dig in just enough to start caring about what the film and the characters are trying to tell us.

What does your patriotism look like when you find out you have 30 days left of civilian life before going to war? For the three friends, all draftees, the contrast is stark. George (Chris Klein) just made partner at his law firm. He opposes the war, but as his friend Dixon (Jon Bernthal) says, George has benefited from America’s freedoms. Dixon is eager to go to war, reminding the people around him about 9/11 and a fictional terror attack in Los Angeles. Then there’s Aaron (Elijah Wood), an anxious writer who is pushed close to the edge upon the receipt of draft notice.

Though all three get more or less equal screen time, it’s the character Dixon who goes through the fits and throws of the choppy production to uncover the film’s sincerity. He’s the one, early in the film, who often sounds like a talking head on the right, but has the most manifestly potent transition in the weeks before he ships off.

Dixon, you see, falls in love. He may not be the best written character of the bunch, that title will go to Aaron, who could only have looked good on paper. But Bernthal’s performance as Dixon is as rough and raw as should be expected in a film about the draft’s return.

Directly opposite Dixon is George, a wishy-washy lawyer who in the hands of Klein is as unbelievable as he is unlikeable. Klein’s performance as an urban professional who desperately wants to dodge the draft doesn’t get under our skins like Bernthal’s. He has all the makings of an effective character, yet Klein’s lack of nuance and boyish looks make it impossible for him to compete against the other characters for our attention. That includes Ginnifer Goodwin, who has a marvelous turn as George’s wife.

In spite of some mediocre acting and a troubled screenplay, the topical film still resonates on premise alone. That’s not to say the notion of a renewed draft is solely important. Instead, we are confronted with a discussion of patriotism that is worth having on a larger scale. Day Zero isn’t strong enough to get the average Joe thinking about what it means to be a patriot, but it’s certainly a starting place for anyone who manages to catch what has so far been a little seen film.

Day Zero, starring Chris Klein, Elijah Wood, Jon Bernthal and Ginnifer Goodwin, directed by Bryan Gunnar Cole, is available on DVD Tuesday, Feb. 26.