Home Front

Richard Hankin's documentary Home Front, originally broadcast on Showtime, follows 23-year-old Army Ranger Jeremy Feldbusch's return from Iraq to his home in suburban Pittsburgh. Feldbusch, who received severe head injuries that left him blind and partially brain damaged, is subject to acute mood swings and seizures that often create harrowing situations for those around him, and the scenes illustrating how he and his family cope with his physical and emotional conditions make for disturbing and often heartbreaking viewing. Feldbusch makes efforts to resume normal activities, including bicycle riding (in tandem with a sighted person) and deer hunting (taking verbal cues from his father and using laser sighting on his rifle), and he is active with the Wounded Warrior Project, which is a nonprofit support organization for disabled military personnel returning from Iraq. Ironically, Feldbusch, whose eschewal of self-pity is commendable, is also stridently stubborn in insisting that his disabling injuries were part of a justified strategy in the war on global terrorism. While not specifically adopting an antiwar partisan tone, Home Front nonetheless presents a stinging condemnation of the brutality of war in general. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)