In the bonus segment of the DVD of "The Yellow Birds," the film artists described how they approached the tragedy of war. There was no overt political discussion of the futility of America's wars in the Middle East for the past fifteen years. But that message nonetheless comes across in the depiction of a war where there are no heroes and the reality on the ground is nothing like the young soldiers had imagined when they signed on to serve their nation. In an early moment of the film, one of the soldiers recalls of the war that they "didn't tell us what is was that brought us there or what it (the war) wanted" of them.

The film is based on Kevin Powers' novel which drew upon his personal experiences in combat in the Middle East. In the DVD bonus segment, Powers observed that the three central characters of Sterling, Bartle, and Murphy, who get lost in the fog of war, were different facets of himself. The two characters of the mothers are crucial for the emotional undercurrents of the film. In the DVD bonus clip, Powers observed that the decisions of the policy makers in Washington, D.C. have unexpected consequences for ordinary Americans like the two caring mothers in the film.

The film builds dramatic tension in the story of what happened to young Murphy. The film offers a thoughtful window in the confusion that takes place in trying to understanding decisions made on the ground that leave no trace other than the memories of the participants. The film is successful in demonstrating how some horrific incidents may be "fixed" in order to distort the truth and how the veterans do not return whole from their traumatic war experiences.

This film was well-acted and well-photographed with graphic realism in the realities of the moment-to-moment experience of war and the life-damaging effects on human lives. It was especially poignant that there was a festive send-off for the young soldiers, but no fanfare whatsoever in their return, other than the memories that will haunt the survivors forever.

The film had the appearance of a rush job with many revisions.

Bartle and his mother played by Toni Collette had a flawed relationship which was never explained.

An impressive cast (I think they were all producers of this film) and the acting was OK.

But the Macguffin itself (the plot point on which everything hinged) was far too weak and unbelievable. And made no sense.

The ending was far too saccharine for what we had just sat through. Almost justifying the death of the soldier.

A shame. 4/10 for special effects and the acting.

Tye Sheridan, Toni Collette, Jason Patric and Jennifer Aniston.....

(alden ehrenreich was just fantastic)

There was some nice cinematography and they were able to blend together both the action and mystery elements together quite nicely, however some of the writing and editing choices were awkwardly done. Tye Sheridan once again does a great job at proving he's a star in the making. Toni Collette and Jennifer Aniston were also great. really the whole cast did an amazing job with the material they were giving.