War is at the center of three of the best new films/shows to catch this week — be it in the chilling premise of Americans fighting Americans , in the form of the aftermath of a nuclear attack or yet another look at the Vietnam War .The joyless eyes and weathered face of photojournalist Lee tell her story, one of an entrenched sense of hopeless resignation as she and her colleagues cover a war that pits California and Texas and other states against the government and its supporters.
“Civil War” mostly follows four journalists. There is Lee; her adrenaline-junkie journalist partner Joel ; a budding, over-eager photographer Jessie and old-school veteran newsman Sammy . Lee and Joel are on the way to interview the beleaguered president .
The series opens with The Captain imprisoned in Vietnam where he’s ordered to write down his recollections — which provide chances to flash back to his “Three Musketeers”-like friendship with two other boys, his work and relationship with an anti-Communist known as The General and his family members, a nail-biting flight out of Vietnam during the fall of Saigon, the people he meets and even targets in Los Angeles, and the insane consultancy role he lands in on an overblown, excessive Vietnam...
Through these experiences, the General also encounters larger-than-life characters — key ones played to the hilt by Oscar winner Robert Downey Jr., an actor who specializes in chewing up the scenery. Wisely, the directing and producing team hands him the drapes, the carpet, and the entire household to rip apart. It’s a smart move with Downey Jr. providing much of the humor and sometimes the menace in a variety of roles.