Red Tails is a shaky little film from director Anthony Hemingway (Ali, The Wire, the recent Neil Young doc.) about five hot shot dog fighters during the Italian Campaign in World War II. They fight the prejudice against their totally African American company by proving they can clock more German casualties and fight more bitterly than any American soldier. Ultimately they prove this in a comic book-style romp through the German ranks.
Based (very marginally) on factual accounts from WWII, Red Tails examines how courage in the face of prejudice and a menacing army strengthens the bond among a company of soldiers, with their campy nicknames, Easy and Lightning: the Gruesome Twosome, Smoky (played by Ne-Yo), Ray Gun and Coffee: the disgruntled mechanic. “The Old Man,” Terrence Howard, who fights for the 332nd company’s right to fly and defend their country from the military’s vast bureaucratic infrastructure.
Cuba Gooding Jr. plays Major Stance, never shown without his pipe, who leads the troops and serves as go-between to the Old Man and the Red Tails. The source of the only, very meager character tension is that between pilots Easy and Lightning. Easy decries Lightning for his rash flying and inattention to orders, while Lightning blames Easy’s whisky drinking for botching a mission. The two actors, David Oyelowe and Nate Parker, provide some compelling interplay, but they can’t salvage such a shallow, one-dimensional script with their genuine concern and jealousy for one another.
This film has caught plenty of flack, knocked for its cheap effects, bad acting and skimpy narrative, but Red Tails could be much, much worse. Its real drawbacks are in shotty filmmaking and inattention to detail. The film never feels truly set in World War II, nor does the mise-en-scene succeed in drawing the audience in or making anything captivating or original. Method Man and Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston also make an appearance.
