Aloha: Review

Aloha is the latest film by Cameron Crowe, the director of "We Bought A Zoo," "Elizabethtown," and "Jeremy McGuire." As in many Crowe films Aloha is a film about people and thus a character driven story. Normally, I would review this film according to the performance of cast members, cinematography and content. This time I wish to explore certain quotes that will haunt you as a Christian and critique the elements of the movie that are objectionable.

Before I begin with the quotes and dissect the profundity, let me state that Aloha is a romance and redemption story. It centers around Brian Gilerest, played by the talented Bradley Cooper, who seems to be making a name for himself as military actor, his last film being "American Sniper" where he portrayed Chris Kyle, the Navy Seal Sniper,

Bradley Cooper returns this time as Brian Gilerest, a former NASA, Air force, and Military Contractor who after an injury in a war has been given a second chance to work with Carson Welch, a billionaire played by Bill Murray, who wants Brian Gilerest to help him with his latest satellite launch program in Hawaii. It is there that Brian Gilerest meets the spunky firecracker Sgt. Allison Ng played by the energetic Emma Stone, who is his watch dog and an overly inquisitive fighter pilot. In process of meeting Allison, Brian reunited with his old flame Tracey Woodslide, played by the tender yet truth teller Rachael McAdams. Brian finds himself torn between two loves: the old flame that has baggage attached and the new firecracker who challenges Brian on many issues.

Having established the characters needed. I wish to explore a few dialogues between them. I will set the scene. Brian and Sgt. Ng (Emma Stone) are hiking to meet the King of Hawaii.

Sgt. Allison Ng: You've never had a partner? I mean, I know that your ex-wife gave you the heave a year ago.

Brian Gilerest: Hey! That would be off limits repartee for us right now. I've lone wolfed it all the way. THat's who I am. End of speech.

Sgt. Allison Ng: Understood.

Brian Gilerest: By the way, my ex-spouse did not give me the heave. She met some rich guy who made his fortune selling comic books and in this economy, that's enough to vaporize a marriage. Suddenly get replaced by a comic-book version of yourself. Nobody wants to live where they are. They all want to be in a fantasy, Ng. All right, she gave me the heave.

Brian's speech at the end of this dialogue is enlightening. He mentions how his wife replaced him with comic book salesman. While it seems beyond the realm of belief a comic book seller could make lots of money, I believe its a powerful metaphor. People would rather have the fantasy of the soldier, then live with a real soldier. As Brian said, "They all want to be in fantasy," a contention I have been arguing on this blog about following Christ. More people would rather go on Sunday to church, do the routine, smile, worship, hear a sermon, and then go live their fantasy for the next six days of the week; then really "pick up their cross," and follow Jesus as a disciple.

Brian has another conversation with Sgt. Ng that really moved me. THe context that needs to be lain is that both Brian and Sgt. Ng went to a party with Caron Welch (Billy Murray) and had a good time.

Sgt Allison Ng: I danced with the devil and it was fun!

Brian Gilrest: In my many experiences, nothing beats fun.

Sgt. Allison Ng: Expect maybe purpose, don't you think?

Brian give a look as if the word was an arrow.

This scene is longer, but I wanted to give the gist of what happened. I love Sgt. Ng's redirection. Brian is smooth talking her and telling her "nothing beats fun," and her retort is so what I want to say to people as Christian, "expect maybe purpose." Jesus Christ gives us purpose. Yes, a career and family can too, but a calling from God is true purpose. I love Sgt. Ng's direct words, so many people want to have fun, they party, sip some Heinekens and do the dance, but do they have purpose? There are billions of people out there who are thrill seekers and want to "just have fun," but they have no purpose and are the wide path to the inferno.

Sgt. Allison Ng acts as foil to Brian Gilrest. Allison has high sense of integrity, honor, and even spiritual awareness while Brian is bankrupt of most of these traits and is even cynic. Allison pushes Brian to be better, to stand for something and not just take a paycheck. She is catalyst for Brian's redemption and return to being a man who has purpose and principles. While Tracey Woodside (Rachael McAdams) is the old flame and reveals some information that greatly effects Brian, she is not the one who makes Brian want to be better. The two women in this film are classic case of choosing, "the better person, or the person who makes you better." Tracey is a better person, but she does not inspire in Brian better values like Sgt. Allison Ng does.

There is objectionable content in the film. Surprisingly it is not profanity, in fact I found only one F word and rest of dialogue had minimal expletives and sexual innuendo. The Sex scene was handled with 40's class in that the two characters kissed passionately with clothes on and then is fast forward with showing nothing or giving no noises to the two talking; refreshing considering how most films these days are almost pornographic. The objectionable content has mostly to do with politics. This film has Hawaiian propaganda, Military Propaganda, and Capitalism leads to Megalomania propaganda. The Hawaiian propaganda centers around the visit with King Kamehameha's descendant who says, "the white missionaries came and took our land from us." The rest of the film is filled with Hawaiian mythology and beliefs regarding their gods. superstitions, and spirituality. Surprisingly, I was not offended, nor felt this overtone ruined the movie. I was able to enjoy the redemptive story and romance.

Refreshingly, there are major critiques of Mammonism in the film. Brian Gilerest has a history money laundering, and his old employer (Bill Murray) puts him to the test when giving him an offer that includes the absolute destruction of the last shred of his integrity and morality. Sgt. Ng says poignantly, "you have sold your soul so man times no one is buying anymore." Sgt. Ng makes this statement regarding Brian's plan to violate his word and conscious to jump start his career and revive his prospects. Sgt. Ng is actually quoting our Lord Jesus, who said, "What good is it to gain the whole world and lose your soul? What can a man offer for his soul to buy it back?" (Matthew 16:26). This has second level of relevance of irony if you think about that the film centers around satellites and space travel and the world is literally up for grabs.

Aloha is surprisingly a movie that acted like a sermon to me. The quotes and the topics in the film test the viewer. In the end you are forced to answer the questions. It isn't a perfect movie, but it does touch on honor, love, trust, truth, and choosing between this world and relationships. I recommend Aloha because it has very Christian messages cloaked in a Cameron Crowe film.