Lucky Strike
"Lucky Strike" is a vivid depiction of American greatness and a stirring call to do right by those who did right by us.
Film Yap is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
I’m a big fan of director Rod Lurie and star Scott Eastwood’s first war film “The Outpost” and was therefore stoked to see their second collaboration within the subgenre “Lucky Strike” (opening in select theaters beginning Friday, June 26).
It’s World War II and John Castle (Eastwood) is an injured American soldier trapped behind enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge after the rest of his unit is eliminated by Nazis.
Castle must rely on his trusty Motorola SCR-300 radio to evade Panzer units in hot pursuit.
The picture has an interesting and episodic structure to it. We flash back and forth between Castle’s time in combat and a post-war meeting with a mysterious woman named Mrs. Caldwell (the ever-reliable Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) in her home. There are vignettes where he receives refuge from a French family (Laurent Maurel, Hazel Rogers, Caroline Piette) and has an encounter with another soldier named Bellingham (Taylor John Smith), who may or may not be a German spy.
Other folks with famous lineages turn up in the film. Colin Hanks plays Col. Neale, who gives Castle his fateful marching orders. It’s also fun to see my Letterboxd friend Scott Alda Coffey (grandson of Alan Alda and another “The Outpost” alum) show up as Averil, a member of Castle’s unit.
I really don’t get why Eastwood isn’t a bigger star. He’s a very capable actor (arguably not as capable as his famed father) and a good-looking dude (arguably better looking than his famed father). He did some of the best work of his career as real-life badass SSG Clint Romesha in Lurie’s “The Outpost” and makes for a hugely sympathetic and likable protagonist here.
“Lucky Strike” as directed by Lurie and co-written by Lurie and Marc Frydman vividly depicts American greatness and gives me hope that we’ll someday get back to this place again. It is a stirring call to do right by those who did right by us. I sincerely hope Lurie and Eastwood team up for more stories of American war heroes every few years after this and “The Outpost.” It’s a historical thriller made for our fathers, uncles and grandfathers and I’m here for it.