mojopro Review of Operation: Belvis Bash

Operation: Belvis Bash (2011)

Walk the Line meets Napoleon Dynamite meets (not coincidentally) Zero Dark Thirty

[9/10 · 24 September 2014]

Belvis Bash, a sort of failed Johnny Cash/Elvis type as the name implies has an opportunity to make a difference. To go on a trip to... Afghanistan. If he could just figure out what fourteen hundred hours meant, everything would be looking good. The film really takes a turn when he arrives, and we see worlds clash. It is here that Lex Lovovsky as Bash first shows us that we will sympathize with him as much as we will laugh. He plays the genuine innocence that makes a fish out of water story like this work. The film is every much a coming of age story for the 40ish Bash, as it is a black commentary on the military and our current state of affairs. Recognizeable faces like Corey Feldman, The Iron Shiek and Daniel Baldwin make this fun on another level as well, and the former particularly nails his role as a comedian who's the only one to dig his jokes. Mark Metcalf is also notable as the scene stealing military chief who supervises Bash's mission. Also Noel Britton who is refreshingly charming on screen as Bash's long time friend. You'll love the most awkward production of not quite Les Miserables, the touching moments (largely from Britton), and the journey Bash and his misfits go on (which may or may not involve camels).