The Drummer
“The Drummer” feels maudlin when it should be devastating. There are times where it gets to painful truths about the impacts of war on soldiers and PTSD, but the story it tells is more from the perspective of a lawyer who does what he can to get them out of the military, and not as much from the soldiers themselves. That’s not a huge problem, but it doesn’t allow us to get to know the soldiers as much as we should outside of the context of their involvement with Mark Walker, played by Danny Glover. It’s a miscalculation on the part of co-writer/director Eric Werthman, but it’s not something that sinks the film.
Mark Walker is a lawyer, and a Vietnam vet who became part of the anti-war movement after his time in the army. Now, he helps soldiers whom are suffering from PTSD get out of the army. The film is set at the moment of “The Surge” in the Iraq War. Popular sentiment had already turned on the war, and people were wanting to end the war. As soldiers were getting deployed for second and third tours, the stress about what they had seen was starting to get to some of the soldiers. But is Mark’s crusade getting clouded by personal ideology? When a couple of new clients come into his orbit, it’s a worthy question.
Darien Cooper (Sam Underwood) is married, and cannot go back to Iraq. He cannot sleep with the memories of what happened over there. He comes into Walker’s office, and gets to meet some of the people Walker has helped. Cori (Prema Cruz) has been AWOL from her unit, and staying with her grandmother. All she does is sleep. She cannot go back because of what happened to her, and how the army treated her. In their interactions with therapists and Walker, we see what they are going through, and empathize with their struggles. Underwood and Cruz give good performances as Walker’s attempts to help them only add to the stress they are going through.
“The Drummer” is a personal project for Glover; his brother was a vet in Vietnam, and the rise in soldier suicides inspired him. I get what appealed to him about the screenplay by Werthman and Jessica Gohlke, but the focus on Walker’s crusade more than the soldiers at times is an imbalance that goes against what Walker is trying to do. I get that you have Glover as the star, and he does well, but the film’s POV really should be more from Cori or Cooper. Their stories are the ones that matter. There are times where “The Drummer” remembers that. When it does, it’s a worthwhile film.
