As a simple exercise in suspense, it’s certainly effective, but there are clunky passages that prevent it from being top-tier entertainment.

It's a little bit generic or old-fashioned, like a small-scale war movies from the '50s or the '60s, but it's compelling.

Lucky Strike presents Lurie the war-film director in miniature, and there’s no shame in that. But what the film suggests is that he shouldn’t be shying away from the combat maximalist inside him.

Rod Davis Lurie captures the gritty authenticity of combat drama, cleverly sustaining tension and a pervasive sense of dread as this WWII survival story unfolds.