Targeting

This film delivers suspense. You rarely notice the pacing in a movie unless it's either exceptionally bad or exceptionally good--Targeting does it exceptionally well. The premise of the film about a soldier returning home from Afghanistan only to be thrust back into harm's way is absolutely fascinating. It's also relevant to the seemingly daily reports of terrorism we see in the news every day.

Also fascinating was the lead role of the soldier going to a woman. It allowed the film makers to explore the issues surrounding troops returning from war in an entirely novel way, one that I hope other film makers will tackle. Kudos to this group for taking a chance and making a truly unique experience for fans of indie film!

This is a great noir thriller about a female Marine that comes back from Afghanistan and starts to run surveillance on an Afghan immigrant. She uses her skills as a Special Ops agent and she's entirely believable in the role, she has this drawn out melancholy look that blends perfectly with the suspenseful storyline...really enjoyed this and the cast of characters too...beautifully shot and the camera movements are terrific for an independent film. Also liked the locations in southern California, bleak and inhospitable, iconic and desolate I think the film was shot in San Pedro. Justin Ridgeway and Baktoosh Nuri are excellent, particularly enjoyed Baktoosh he's got a great look and star potential.

This is a brilliant movie with an amazing performance by Tajana Prka who plays a shell shocked (old terminology) woman soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The direction by Tarique Qayumi is tight, intense, and focused if somewhat unrealistic in spots. (I'll get to that below.) The film does something that no other film that I have seen even come close to doing, and that is make us feel the sheer depths of the PTSD affliction. Mattie is traumatized to the extent that she is no longer really human. She cares nothing for anything but her obsession. She cares not for her daughter, not for her loving and patient husband, not even for herself. It is a portrayal of madness, obsession and what seeing and doing horrible things can do to a human being.

The acting was superior overall. Even the bit players did a good job. I noticed nary a false note. Even the little girl (played affectingly by Brooke J. Ferrell) was excellent. When the entire cast or most of it is very good you can be sure that the director is one of the main reasons. I don't know how Tajana Prka, who plays Mattie Ridgeway, would do in a sitcom (nor do I care) but I cannot recall a more intense and utterly believable performance in such a demanding role. Charlize Theron's role in the film Monster (2003) comes to mind or, going way back, I recall Susan Hayward's Oscar-winning performance in I Want to Live (1958). Yes, Prka is that good.

The entire story is heart-wrenching for just about everybody involved. I suspect one of the reasons some people did not like the film or could not watch it, is because it is so tragic for not only Mattie, her husband and her daughter, and of course for her target (Baktoosh Nuri / Khalid Attaqi, played with creditable realism and balance by Bobby Naderi) but also for the bad guys who are exploiting him. Also probably not agreeable to a popular audience is the fact that there is nothing heroic here, just a terrible tragedy that is entirely real thanks to the madness of the wars in the Middle East. Still another reason some people did not like this movie is because some people don't like the idea of PTSD, believing that it is unmanly or fake. The singular thing this movie presents is the fact that PTSD is not fake, and to see a woman suffer from it to the point of becoming less than human is a very effective way to drive home that point. Some other people (chicken hawks, I might guess who like to imagine themselves big masculine war heroes on their living room couches) will not like the way the feminine/masculine roles are reversed here. James O'Shea, who does a nice job as Mattie's ever patient and loving husband, ends up doing the mother's job while Mattie madly pursues her obsession. The role reversal almost works as a parody of the world of a PTSD family, which is probably why some viewers thought that this was a parody. No, this is not a parody. This is a brutal depiction of one of the bitter fruits of war. There is nothing light-hearted about it.

Yes, I can find flaws with this, mostly in how miraculously she is able to follow this guy and especially how she got out of the hotel room without being noticed. I just happen to know what it is like to try to follow someone by yourself without being noticed. It ain't easy. The way the movie is filmed would never work. She would be spotted early on, especially under the circumstances of the life the target is living. And he would be paranoid to the gills after somebody let the air out of his automobile tire--actually, way before that.

This movie is especially relevant and important because there are so many people in this country who were happy to cheer our soldiers off to war but who are reluctant to take responsibility for what war did to them.

Incidentally, I also like the way the film shows just how absurd and ineffective torture can be.

--Dennis Littrell, author of the movie reviews book, "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote"

Tajana Prka has written (with Tarique Qayumi and Alan De la Rosa), produced, directed and stars in one of the more desperately moving films of recent years. While many writers attempt to outdo each other with fantasies of both the fairytale past, the comic book genre, or the terrifying future that awaits us, Tajana instead takes on a story that happens around us daily – the problem of how war affects soldiers. It is not only thought provoking and intensely disturbing, but it is also one of the more moving portrayals of how being deployed to the current collection of wars in the Middle East affects female soldiers as profoundly as the more frequently discussed male counterparts and alters their lives severely.

Attempting to summarize the plot would be to do the viewer an injustice: better to experience this film rather than read reviews about it. Except to say that the film is exceptionally worthy of your attention. Generally speaking the plot revolves around the return of Mattie Ridgeway (Tajana Prka) from Afghanistan, flat affect from PTSD, not relating to her husband Justin (James O'Shea) who was also deployed but not in the same front line activity as Mattie and thus understands her very little – as disconnected from Justin as she is form her daughter. Unable to step away from the trauma of Afghanistan Mattie becomes obsessed with investigating an Afghan person of interest (Bobby Naderi) rumors and other sources suggest that he is living in the same town. The extremes of her reaction and behavior mirror the fractures created by PTSD and rarely has it been developed so well in a film.

Ringing with reality and agony, TARGETING is one of the better films to explore just how severe a problem PTSD is and why we must be aware of the 'other world' in which these victims live – making certain we are supportive and understanding. Tajana Prka deserves some awards for this film, not only for an Indie film, but also form mental health foundations for bringing this problem to the public's attention. See it!