DECEMBER

DECEMBER gives us five young men deliberating in a boarding school dorm on the night after the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor: Shall we join the ranks, or not? DECEMBER is conversational, better suited to the stage than to the screen. Nonetheless, these students represent the gamut from pacifist to hawk. DECEMBER’s setting and photography is all in the warm brown tones of a New England boarding school of the 1940s. The characters are forced to make difficult decisions. For Kipp, war is not the answer to his problems since he has been expelled because of his book report on the Dalton Trumbo’s JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN. Tim is a star athlete who views war as his chance to serve his country. Allister wants to prove his manhood. Russell feels inadequate as his father’s less than perfect son. Ultimately, the two opposing viewpoints evolve: “I won’t fight because war doesn’t make any sense” versus “some things are worth fighting for.”

The use of profanity is chided early on, and aside from its repetitive format, the film can be recommended for discussion among high schoolers, clarifying the issues before our next “opportunity” to enter a war.