The Way We Get By

Directed by:  Aron Gaudet Cast: Bill Knight, Joan Gaudet, Jerry Mundy Running Time: 1 hr 25 mins Rating: Unrated Release Date: October 23, 2009

PLOT: Three senior citizens greet armed services members as the deploy out to and return from combat zones overseas.  The Way We Get By follows their work as greeters and their personal lives.

WHO'S IT FOR? Although it's ostensibly about military personnel, the film also deals with mortality and loneliness.  Expect an interesting, multifaceted documentary.

EXPECTATIONS: I'd seen a preview for this film at some point so I was expecting a kind of feel good movie about older people connecting with veterans.

SCORECARD (0-10)

ACTORS: Bill Knight as Bill:  Bill's actually a WWII vet who views greeting the troops as his duty.  He's not political, no one in this film is, he just wants the men and women who go through Bangor Airport to know that people support them.  But this job isn't just for the troops, he also finds personal meaning in it.  Bill's very old, his wife dead and he lives alone in a house he can't take care of.  It's overcome by cats and mounds of junk, the interviewer notes that she's counted 25 vacuums in the house.  He's also been diagnosed with cancer and knows he has a limited amount of time to live.  The talks he has with the filmmakers about his mortality are really moving.  They're also kind of scary if you don't like to dwell on the idea yourself.  I'm kind of blown away by how frank he is with the filmmakers, and also himself. Score:  9

Joan Gaudet as Joan:  Joan's an older woman with problems walking, she says she rarely left the house until she discovered troop greeting.  She's been doing it for 8 years, though she won't be there when they leave, only when they return.  She doesn't have the same repartee with the cameras that Bill and Jerry achieve, but her story becomes personal when her granddaughter and grandson, both of whom are in the National Guard, are deployed.  She comes from an armed forces family and had a husband who served, but she still has problems seeing them go, especially Amy who's a helicopter pilot.  Despite this interesting plot twist, I never really got as involved with Joan as the other men.  She didn't reveal as much. Score:  7

Jerry Mundy as Jerry:  Jerry's life revolves around his dog, Mr. Flannigan, and troop greeting.  He actually sits in the airport parking lot, watching for troop planes to come by with his dog in the passenger seat.  He's an interesting character because he's such a jovial guy, he's the old dude who makes the bad jokes and would probably say something to piss me off (I have a lot of great uncles so I may be internalizing this here).  But besides his cheery facade he's a pretty complex guy.  He also has some of the most heartbreaking moments in the film. Score:  9

TALKING: I got a kick out of how the military men and women spoke.  There were a lot of "Sirs" and polite language.  But everyone seemed genuine too. Score:  7

SIGHTS: Most of the film takes place in the Bangor Airport, which isn't the most scenic place in the world.  Once they get outside though, there's some beautiful scenery, especially in the winter when everything's covered in snow.  Still it's a doc so it's shot on pretty standard equipment.  Don't expect High Def beauty shots. Score:  6

SOUNDS: I will say the filmmakers do a decent job of staying away from music that's too sentimental, and letting the participants tell their own stories. Score:  6

PLOT SPOILERS

BEST SCENE: About 20 minutes into the film I was already tearing up after a soldier spoke to the camera about how much this meant to him, to have these people here to greet him after being gone so long at war.

ENDING: The structure of the film is not the best part.  The individual stories of the three greeters were wrapped up well, but the overall story about meeting people at the airport didn't really have an ending point.  I know that this is partially due to the fact that the war is still going on, but I wish they could have found a way to make the movie feel like it had a stronger ending.

QUESTIONS: When will the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan end?  Do we as a nation offer enough appreciation to our troops overseas?

REWATCHABILITY: Though dark at times, the film is one I'd enjoy watching with friends.

OVERALL

The Way We Get By starts off strong, with the scenes of greeters at the airport interacting with the troops, and goes up and down from there.  There's a lot of story to be told, Bill and Jerry are both going through profound periods where they're dealing with questions of meaning and mortality.  Joan is worried about a granddaughter going into a war zone.  And through it all these three individuals find purpose in their day to day lives by greeting armed forces members at the local airport.  The film tries to give each story it's day, and does alright at it.  Though they have good material, moving between the stories got confusing at times.  And after the first strong airport scenes, some of the later scenes seemed repetitive. I don't think the material was ultimately put together in the best way.

FINAL SCORE: 7/10