Luke Stephens, a Marine on short leave leave while recovering at the hospital at Camp LaJueune, has returned home to deliver the Purple Star to the wife of his his close and deeply admired sergeant, dead from the IED that terribly damaged him and the rest of his patrol. Luke's injuries are the worst imaginiable in our culture, he lost his manhood. His urinary catheter and other unspoken implication tell us the story, but the hints are too imprecise for most viewers. His first stop is to see his wife and he cannot disclose to her the extent of his injuries. He leaves in shame to see his brother, a small time drug dealer, living with his lover and another girl, the latter of whom swipes Luke's credit card and fraudulently racks up 9k of charges. First Luke delivers the Purple Heart medal to his sergeant's wife, who is clearly depressed from the loss. One gets the impression that the Purple Heart is his own and not that of his sergeant but it is immaterial to the story. What is material is that Luke narrows his search to the girl thief and her boss a 'hooked in' cartel member who resultingly discovers the girl has also stolen 50k from her cash box, the earnings from her strip joint. She has Luke badly beaten, and threatens the girl with something supposedly far worse if repayment is not made in an unreasonably short time. Luke basically forgives the girl and talks her into spiriting him away from the local hospital while recovering from the beating, allowing Luke to avoid confronting his father, an ex-marine of dubious valor and his brother, with the ignominy of his missing member. Luke is avoiding admission of his lost manhood at all cost. He and the girl flee But Luke discovers his brother is in deep trouble with the mobsters because of the affaire with the credit card and the girl. He returns and begs his proud but unvalorous ex-marine Dad to help him get his brother back, and at that moment he is near death from a severe drawn out beating. Despite his quivering reluctance, surprisingly the Dad turns into the marine he falsely bragged he was. He slaughters the bad guys and rescues his criminal son in time to stave off death. At the end the Dad is hauled off by the police, Luke's wife who loves him unconditionally, learns of the previously unsaid condition, and we are left to ponder the meaning of it all. The outcome for Luke and his wife remains uncertain, but the optimist in us says they will find a way to harvest his sperm, have children, and live a normal if rather unstimulating married life. The inescapable horror of war, the metastatic damage inflicted on all who come near it, and whether losing ones 'unit' is as bad as losing one's life, these are the thoughts we are left to ponder.
Review of Battle Scars
