Three soldiers come home on leave from the Iraq war. Cheever (Tim Robbins) is en route to St. Louis to see his wife and son, Colee (Rachel McAdams) is on her way to Vegas to return a dead soldier’s guitar to his parents, and TK (Michael Pena) is worried his fiancée won’t be able to handle the fact that his injury left him sexually incapable. But they’re the lucky ones. They’re alive, for one thing, and when JFK airport is canceling all flights, they snag the last rental car to share just because they’re soldiers, and the desk clerk thanks them. Their roadtrip home has great unexpected twists as their lives slowly unravel but their friendships deepen. All three actors give wide-ranging performances that go from painful and angry to generous and complacent. A solid movie that examines the war, without a war, but instead from the perception of three soldiers on leave, just anxious to fit in. Three and a half tiaras.
