Burning Blue (2014)

By CinemaSerf

This is certainly a story worth telling - the disgraceful and discriminatory treatment of highly trained, professional and committed people in the military (in this case the US, but it's just as applicable elsewhere) because of their sexuality. The problem is that this depiction is just dull - pure and simple. The story of two Navy pilots who dance around each other for far too long before delivering anything of substance is dreadfully slow and unemotional. Even at the end, when an NCIS that neither "Gibbs" nor "Abby" would want anything to do with, investigate their behaviour, the thing struggles to catch fire - on any level. Sure, it doesn't need to be about sex, but it does need to have something for the two rather mundane actors to give us. It just isn't there - it's hopeless at instilling any of the senses of jeopardy, uncertainty - even shame - these men face with their identities, careers and families; indeed it seems to use sloppy ballads and poor dialogue to reinforce quite a few stereotypes on both sides - which really doesn't help. This was a story well worth addressing, but not in this dull, ineffective fashion.