DVD movie commentary

What happens when a change is coming—right before your eyes, without even expecting it. That’s Aloha (2015, USA).

The situation

Military contractor Brian Gilcrest’s (Bradley Cooper) last job in Kabul is a secret he would rather forget, but Brian is now in Honolulu, Hawaii, to fulfill a job on the island for his boss Carson (Bill Murray).

The job in Kabul did not go down too well. Unfortunately, it showed Carson that Brian is untrustworthy, but Carson is willing to move on.

However, Brian’s ‘old flame’ Tracy (Rachel McAdams) is on the island and she brings back old feelings for him, and he brings back resentments for her. The past is lingering.

Then a ‘new flame’ Allison Ng (Emma Stone), his military chaperone, could shake his life up.

Back on the job, and the King of Hawaii may have touched Brian’s heartstrings when meeting with him and Allison to discuss the job, but Brian’s a man intending on getting the job done.

Allison promises more cell phone coverage for the island; the king has been disillusioned with intervention into his island, but without any perks.

Brian promises military protection, but will Brian’s head keep on ruling his heart on the matter of slipping under a sweetener to get the job done? Yet Allison probes and penetrates Brian with searching questions back in his room.

Change is here

Will her influence make him take a 180-degree turn, to a man experiencing his place in the world or in the grander scheme of things?  These are the big questions of life. Or will he have to do something against the grain, to go out on a limb? But he doesn’t have to. Life is already changing before his eyes, and he does not know it, yet.

The innocent meeting with Allison, at the start of the film, is a catalyst for a change happening underneath his feet, shaking him to his core. Perhaps when a boy meets a girl…or was it his dissatisfaction with the status quo? It is both intersecting, showing that change is imminent.

Though I didn’t go along with all of the life situations and attempts at comedy in Aloha, still, as a general theme, a new way of life was metamorphosing before his eyes. Change was sweeping him up suddenly.

Life can change rapidly without even knowing it, but when change comes running, it can cement a person’s place in the world with a fresh vigor.

Aloha is rated PG-13. It contains profanity and suggestive sexual material.