I thought the film was first class. It's rare for a film to grip me like this, but it did, and not only that, it left me wanting more. You know that feeling a movie has now and again, that feeling like you'd love to know more when it's over, you want to carry on viewing their lives. Well this movie made me want that.

It's not entirely unpredictable, I even drew some comparisons with the original Karate Kid but with marines, but it's a damned good drama without all the fight scenes.

Overall it's a good 90minutes of your time, and if you're not completely soulless, you should enjoy it.

"Don't Ask Don't Tell" is only part of the nitty gritty here. Being a woman in the armed forces -- and in any male-dominated society -- comes at us from several angles. So just as DADT isn't merely of interest to the gay community, neither is this compelling, powerful film. This is a deeply experienced personal story with several fascinating characters, not a film-maker on a soapbox. It's beautifully framed, acted and directed...if a bit slow in places. But any "downtime" ultimately increases the desperate angst beneath the surface: a reluctant and rejected hero, cut off from the only career and life she's ever known for reasons that are more complicated than we initially assume, gets an unexpected and unwarranted homecoming. At a time of two wars that are barely on the public's radar, here's the reality of those who've fought and lived through them: all's quiet on the home front because few civilians care to know the many truths on the ground halfway around the world. The genius of MARINE STORY is that even without special effects and battle scenes, regardless of the viewer's personal politics, we are made to pay attention to our women and men in uniform through this impeccably-focused lens. Some huge stories are best told on a smaller budget. If this is independent film-making for the 2nd decade of our century, we have much to admire and care about for years to come.

A Marine Story (2010) was written and directed by Ned Farr. The film stars Dreya Weber as Alexandra Everett, a recently discharged USMC officer.

Dreya is returning home after her unwilling separation from the military. Not only was she forced to leave the service--which she loves--but she was denied the few months extra enlistment time that would have qualified her for retirement and a pension. All this because she has a lesbian sexual orientation. No one suggests that she actually has had had sexual relations with another female Marine. It's just that the Marines have learned--correctly--that she is a lesbian. (It's interesting that her commanding officer suggests that she engage in an adulterous heterosexual relationship. That's illegal too, but, because it's heterosexual, it would be helpful as evidence that she's not lesbian.)

Enter Paris P. Pickard as Saffron, a sullen young woman who is full of anger and self-loathing. A judge tells Saffron that it's the military or jail, and she arrives at Alexandra's home to prepare herself reluctantly for the military.

The rest of the plot is pretty predictable. Do you think that Saffron will ultimately remain defiant and end up going to jail? Or do you think she'll identify with Alexandra, accept the military mindset, and turn into an incredibly fit and confident ma'am-yes-ma'am Marine? You only get one guess.

The film has its virtues, and apparently audiences love it. Two obvious reasons are Weber and Pickard. We're accustomed to seeing beautiful women on the screen, but not graceful, slender, beautiful muscular women. As one of the presenters pointed out, Paris Pickard's abdominal muscles are themselves worth the price of admission.

Actor Dreya Weber is incredibly lean and fit. She really commands your attention when she's on the screen, and you can believe that she can physically challenge--and defeat--tough rednecks in barroom brawls. It's hard not to enjoy a movie that stars Weber. (Five years ago I wrote a very positive review of her work in The Gymnast.)

The problem for me is the contrast between the way the military treated Alexandra and the way Alexandra reveres the military. If you break the plot down into its basics, Alexandra has been horribly mistreated by the Marines. The Marines have forced out this capable, competent, loyal officer and left her financially bereft, even though she has done nothing wrong.

Does Alexandra respond by telling Saffron that there might be just a few little problems for her if she buys into this authoritarian organization? Ma'am, no ma'am! The Marines are great, and Saffron will be lucky if she let's them turn her into a tough, obedient, fighting machine. The disconnect between Alexandra's perception of her military experience, and the reality of that experience, doesn't appear to occur to anyone in the film, but it occurred to me. (This same disconnect is apparent in the documentary, Out of Annapolis, which I also reviewed.)

We saw this movie at the Cinema Theatre as part of the top-notch ImageOut Rochester Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. It will work well on DVD.