Non-Movie Review: Murph: The Protector

Murph: The Protector: The True Story Of Navy Seal Lt. Michael P. Murphy

So, I was recently sent my first documentary video to review for the Naval Historical Institute [1], after a previous book they sent me got stolen in the mail (I have the worst luck with mail [2]). This film is a documentary of a Navy Seal named Lt. Michael Murphy, who was posthumously awarded the first Medal of Honor given for our war in Afghanistan for his bravery in protecting his party, which included a “Lone Survivor” who got a movie of his own recently. This movie presents itself as a biography of a life cut short by violence but full of bravery and the love and memory of friends and family. As someone who has not read or seen a great deal of material about the War in Afghanistan, this documentary promises to be of interest.

Now, in all fairness, I watch movies far less often than I read books, and since I tend to give clever titles to my movie reviews [3], they are a little less obvious to the casual readers than the very obvious nature of my book reviews. Also, it is perhaps somewhat ironic that I do not tend to like to read or watch portrayals of recent violence. Despite having an MA in Military History, I tend to be deeply distressed by violence, and not interested in being violent to others, as the insights I seek to gain from human conflict I prefer to keep at arm’s length and with a happy medium between distance and relevance. Perhaps Afghanistan, being a distant land, is remote enough that a portrayal of the violence there will not be too jarring (one reason I have not tended to go out to see movies like Lone Survivor.

As far as my review, I look forward to seeing the film’s production values (given its modest $200k budget), its narrative, its historicity (source materials) as well as its interest to a military (especially navalist) audience. I have high hopes for the film, and I look forward to reading and reviewing it. We’ll see how excellent of film it proves to be, but at 76 minutes at least it appears to be of a reasonable scope.

[1] See my previous non-reviews and scholarly reviews for them:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/11/25/scholarly-book-reviews/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2013/03/10/non-book-review-aboard-the-pirate/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2013/02/09/non-book-review-a-dog-before-a-soldier/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/non-book-review-captured-the-forgotten-men-of-guam/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/12/06/non-book-review-the-aden-effect/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/non-book-review-imperial-crossroads/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/10/27/non-book-review-admiral-insubordinate/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/a-non-book-review-kaigun/

[2] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2011/06/13/my-invitation-must-have-gotten-lost-in-the-mail/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/a-letter-from-america/