Lucky Strike

When it comes to great story generators, there may be few modern events that can rival World War II. More than eighty years later, it still seems to produce an endless supply of stories about courage, sacrifice, and survival. Every time I think we’ve heard them all, another one comes along. That appears to be exactly what Rob Lurie and Marc Frydman have found with Lucky Strike, and it’s certainly an intriguing story.

Set during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, the film follows Castle (Scott Eastwood) and his men after they are ordered by Colonel Neale (Colin Hanks) to disable a road and slow the advance of German forces. The mission starts off badly when the team is ambushed. Castle and another soldier manage to fight off the initial attack, and for a moment it looks like things might work out. That quickly changes when a German vehicle arrives, wiping out the rest of the unit.

With their vehicle disabled and no way back to camp, Castle is left stranded behind enemy lines. Armed only with a new type of radio, he’s instructed to make the long trek back to base on foot. Standing between him and safety are countless German soldiers, dangerous terrain, and a series of increasingly difficult obstacles.

As Castle pushes forward, he encounters enemy troops, suffers injuries, and finds himself tested at every turn. His motivation is simple: he wants to get home to his family. The question becomes whether that determination is enough to keep him alive.

Written by Marc Frydman and Rob Lurie, with Lurie co-directing alongside Todor Kotzev, Lucky Strike is inspired by true events and focuses on a smaller story within the larger Battle of the Bulge. This isn’t a sprawling war epic, nor is it a movie built around large-scale combat. Instead, it pays close attention to the historical details with the survival story at its center.

The story Lurie and Frydman are most interested in telling is one about bravery, perseverance, and the human spirit’s ability to endure even the worst of circumstances. Where the film struggles, however, is in creating emotional investment. Beyond the fact that Castle is the protagonist, we never really get to know him or the other characters well enough to form a strong connection. As a result, whether they live or die doesn’t carry the emotional weight it probably should.

That doesn’t take away from the accomplishment of the story itself. It just would have landed harder if we cared more about the people experiencing it.

Lucky Strike clearly wants to take Castle on an odyssey, throwing one dangerous encounter after another in his path and testing both his endurance and resolve. Lurie’s previous film, The Outpost, was one of the most riveting and authentic portrayals of post-9/11 warfare I’ve seen. There are glimpses of that same craftsmanship here, but Lucky Strike never quite reaches those heights, largely because of the nature of the story it’s telling.

This is very much a lone-wolf survival tale. It’s staged with skill and attention to detail, but the individual events never become as gripping as they need to be. To the film’s credit, it rarely feels predictable, but it also rarely feels truly enthralling.

Scott Eastwood does a solid job in the lead role. While he isn’t quite dynamic enough to carry the entire film on his shoulders, he’s a capable actor who gives the material everything he has. The issue isn’t really Eastwood as much as it is the fact that the character isn’t developed enough to sustain the film’s emotional core.

Ultimately, Lucky Strike has plenty to offer history buffs and viewers who enjoy seeing Nazis get what’s coming to them. The attention to historical detail is admirable, and the film’s respect for the real events shines through. For general audiences, though, the experience may feel a little too flat. Despite its strong premise and worthwhile story, Lucky Strike never quite completes its mission, leaving it as a respectable war drama that struggles to fully engage.

Brian Taylor

Member of the North Texas Film Critics Association, and lover of all things Cinema