'Fort Bliss' needs to more fully examine its protagonist's conflicts
The plight of returning war veterans almost always focuses on male soldiers, so 鈥淔ort Bliss,鈥� written and directed by Claudia Myers, has its fascinations. Michelle Monaghan plays Maggie Swann, a decorated Army medic who returns home from extended duty in Afghanistan to discover that her 5-year-old son (a very good Oakes Fegley), who has been living with her ex-husband (Ron Livingston) and his new girlfriend (Emmanuelle Chriqui), is repelled by her.
聽Myers, whose background is in documentaries involving Afghanistan and Iraq War vets, is good at capturing the revealing, offhand moments in this story, but Maggie鈥檚 conflicts about motherhood and the military needed a greater psychological scope than this film provides. Grade: B- (This film is unrated.)
