Review: ‘Man Down’ waits too long to deliver worthy message
“Man Down” carries a poignant message about American veterans’ mental health needs, but you may give up on the movie before it gets there. Nothing is clear until the film’s final moments, which hit with a gut punch just before the credits roll.
Until then, the story is told through disjointed flashbacks that make it hard to know what’s going on and who to root for. Director Dito Montiel bounces between boot camp, active duty in Afghanistan and life in post-apocalyptic America, with star Shia LaBeouf’s haircut and beard scruff the only real indicator of where we are in time.