“Ideals are peaceful. History’s violent.”
It is a sentiment that could apply to any period in U.S. history, but it is particularly appropriate at this juncture of World War II. It’s April 1945 and the Germans are desperate, the Americans exhausted and their ranks thinning by the day in “Fury.”
That is how Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman), a kid from Pittsburgh trained to be a clerk-typist, lands the unlikely job of assistant driver in the Sherman tank commanded by Don “Wardaddy” Collier (Brad Pitt) in Germany. In the Army for just eight weeks, the softhearted tenderfoot was sent to replace the fifth member of the tank crew, who died.
Wardaddy later will deliver the aphorism about ideals and history while gunner Boyd “Bible” Swan (Shia LaBeouf) warns the newcomer: “Wait until you see what a man can do to another man.” It doesn’t take long when Norman is ordered into the tank (its name of “Fury” written in white paint on the gun barrel) with a bucket of hot water and a rag to mop up the blood of his predecessor.
“Fury” follows the tank crew members — rounding out the team are driver Trini Garcia (Michael Pena) and loader Grady Travis (Jon Bernthal) — as they are outgunned and outarmoured by enemy Tiger tanks and encounter Germans dead and very much alive.
The addition of a novice can imperil or unbalance any unit, and as Wardaddy tells Norman, “I promised my crew a long time ago I’d keep them alive. You’re getting in the way of that.”
Just as the veteran brutally initiates Norman in the realities of war, “Fury” does not soft pedal what combat meant at this time. Corpses silently disappear into the mud under tank treads, alcohol ruins what passes for a haven of civility, and there is no such thing as “the front.” It’s everywhere; the Americans are in Germany, surrounded by professional and child soldiers and everyone in between.
Starring: Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Pena, Jon Bernthal.
Rating: R for strong sequences of war violence, some grisly images and language throughout.
“Fury” is about the bond of brotherhood, the gallows humor that makes the unbearable bearable, the cruelty of attrition (“Sergeant, where’s the rest of the 3rd Platoon?” ... “We’re it”), the courage to face possible or even certain death and the way a hard-nosed commander will telegraph his alarm and fears but only in private.
This is one intense ride from writer-director David Ayer, the writer of “Training Day” and writer-director of “End of Watch” starring Mr. Pena and Jake Gyllenhaal as LA cops, and “Sabotage” with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The story is fictional, but the research for the core actors included a shortened boot camp and meeting World War II veterans of the 2nd Armored Division. The roles are far from glamorous — skin is meant to look scarred or patched in a few cases — and while all five leads are uniformly strong, Mr. Pitt as the father figure-leader, Mr. Lerman as the audience surrogate who matures in short order and Mr. LaBeouf as a man of faith are especially memorable.
“Fury” has its quieter interludes, but it also has graphic battle scenes that will move you as much as anything in “Saving Private Ryan.” It presents a no-holds-barred portrait of war, of what it meant to be young and alive, to be handed responsibility far beyond your rank and age, and to take a stand, knowing it could be your last.
First Published: October 17, 2014, 4:00 a.m.