Bennett's War

Director: Alex Ranarivelo Alex Ranarivelo

Overview

A soldier (Michael Roark) in the Army Motorcycle Unit suffers a shattered leg and back following the detonation of an IED while deployed overseas. He must return home on forced medical leave and strive to become a successful motocross racer as a means to support his struggling family. Written and directed by Alex Ranarivelo, co-starring Trace Adkins and Allison Paige.

Product Details

Release Date:	12/03/2019
UPC:	0883929702961
Original Release:	2019
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Warner Archives
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:34:00
Sales rank:	43,608

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Michael Roark	Marshall Bennett
Trace Adkins	Cal Bennett
Ali Afshar	Cyrus
Allison Paige	Sophie Bennett
Hunter Clowdus	Chris Walker
Brando Eaton	Kurt Walker
Tony Panterra	Tony Panterra
Taylor Kalupa	Amber
Anton Fair	Private Myers
David Villada	Mechanic
Josh Trovato	Mechanic
Violet McGraw	Rebecca
Michael Sadler	Soldier
John Ducey	John
Kevin Kiley, Jr.	Dixon
Alan Pietruszewski	Army Doctor
Andrew Bongiorno	JJ Langham
Shaun Paul Piccinino	Race Announcer
Iyad Hajjaj	Afghan Fighter
Michael King	Riley
Jamie Christopherson	Composer

Technical Credits

Alex Ranarivelo

Alex Ranarivelo	Director,Screenwriter
Christina Moore	Producer
Forrest Lucas	Executive Producer
Beverly Holloway	Casting
John Schouweiler	Production Manager
Ali Afshar	Producer

Editorial Reviews

In the motocross/army drama Bennet's War, a US Army soldier injured in the line of duty as part of his special motorcycle unit in Afghanistan returns to the States to face a grim reality: the debt his family is facing can only be paid off if he picks up his motorcycle again and tries to win the grand prize at a small motorcycle race. The problem is, the doctors have warned him that if he takes the type of serious fall which is common to the sport, he will never walk again. Marshall Bennett (Michael Roark) is an All-American motorcycle racer who decides to join the army instead of taking his career to the pro level. Fortunately, the Army has a special Motorcycle Unit of soldiers who are required to traverse the brutal landscape of Afghanistan on their bikes. In the middle of escaping an ambush, Marshall is hit with an Improvised Explosive Device, which leaves him injured bad enough that he's discharged from the Army. He returns in time for his wife Sophie (Allison Paige) to give birth to their son. With the time and expense of being a new parent, and the inability to find good work with his injuries, Marshall brings Sophie and their baby to his family's farm in California. Marshall is able to continue his love of motorcycles by helping fix up bikes at the shop of his friend Cyrus (Ali Afshar). Together they come across a pair of bad boys who want to go pro, Chris and Kurt Walker, who are forming a new team sponsored by Tony Panterra. To make life even harder, Marshall's dad Cal (Trace Adkins) admits that he's about to lose the family farm where they're all living, unless he can come up with $5,000 as soon as possible. When Marshall and his friend Cyrus discover a motorcycle race with a grand prize of $4,000, Marshall decides he will risk life and literally limb to go against the doctors' orders and compete for the grand prize. But his wife Sophie will only let him if she can be a part of the team. Bennet's War banks on any and every All-American movie cliché such as: getting wounded for a noble reason in the army, having an attractive wife you don't listen to, a dad played by a real life country music star, daring to do something really dumb for glory and cash, and riding motorcycles really fast while listening to loud music. It's not that it doesn't work, but it adds nothing to a conversation that nobody's interested in. Writer/director Alex Ranarivelo (Dirt, The Ride) uses his street racing past to consistently bring action to Bennet's War. Unfortunately, the wooden dialogue and overly simple premise with gaping plot holes make it hard to invest any emotion into the characters. What could have been edge-of-the-seat thrills as the bikes glide through the air over massive jumps, falls flat when it's just preposterous that he's risking his limbs, and his relationship with his family for a sum of money that is so small, that it's just for a back payment - they still won't own the farm even if he wins. While Bennet's War is overall a cut and paste underdog sports movie at its heart, nothing stands out enough to separate it from a long line of predecessors that are infinitely better. Sadly, there are also a glut of motocross and motorcycle racing movies out already that only contain jumps, and racing shots, yet are still more watchable than this one.