Returning vet faces PTSD in misguided crime thriller 'Battle Scars'

By Gary Goldstein

July 13, 2017 12:10 PM PT

“Battle Scars” is an uneasy mix of military drama and low-rent crime thriller whose seamy elements, under-examined characters and forced plot turns undercut its attempted messaging about war-induced post-traumatic stress disorder.

Given writer-director Danny Buday’s apparent concern for the emotional and physical plight of returning veterans, this combo-plate approach feels especially off-base.

The film finds Marine Luke Stephens (Zane Holtz) home on medical leave after a tour in Afghanistan in which he suffered a devastating wound in a bomb blast (seen in flashbacks). The extent of Luke’s injury isn’t immediately revealed, but its effect alienates him from wife Jules (Amy Davidson), drug-dealer brother Nicky (Ryan Eggold) and hard-nosed Marine vet dad (David James Elliott, in a thankless role).

Contrived events lead a surly Luke to meet, battle and later pair off with light-fingered strip-club worker Michelle (Heather McComb), after she runs afoul of her vicious boss, Rifka (Fairuza Balk). Nicky, whose girlfriend (Kristen Renton) works with Michelle, becomes dangerously enmeshed in Rifka’s revenge plan. Lots of trite “tough talk” ensues.

Strained family dynamics and navigating new limitations inform much of Luke’s fraught return, but it’s too often explored via on-the-nose venting or wedged-in exposition. A more focused story and a more soulful, dimensional Luke may have better engaged our sympathy — and attention.

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