Battle for Haditha

Searing, powerful, and morally entangled.

With its dialogue largely improvised by many who had seen extensive combat in Iraq, Battle for Haditha has a gripping authenticity lacking in other similarly themed dramas.

Unsubtle but gripping.

An engaging Iraqudrama that straddles the line between blistering exposé and Spielbergian heart-tugger.

Lacking in subtlety and nuance, Broomfield's nerve-jangling movie nonetheless succeeds in showing the war from various vantage points. And from wherever one's standing, the view is profoundly disturbing.

Broomfield's film is didactic, awkwardly acted by the cast of former Marines who are meant to lend the film credibility, and clumsily inflammatory.

The film is an exposé only of a filmmaker's senseless contempt for the military.