'Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk' First Look: Ang Lee Unveils An Unusual Wartime Dramedy

Four years after the technically audacious, jaw-droppingly gorgeous Life of Pi, Ang Lee is back this fall with Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. Based on the novel by Ben Fountain, the modern wartime drama follows a squad of heroic American soldiers brought home for a victory tour culminating in a showy appearance at the Thanksgiving Day game. Get your Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk first look below. 

Sony shared the Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk first look photo.

Much of the buzz surrounding this movie has concerned its all-star cast, which includes Kristen Stewart, Chris Tucker, Garrett Hedlund, Vin Diesel, and Steve Martin. Still more of it has centered around Lee's unprecedented use of a 120 frames per second. None of those things are really on display here. The only character we get a good look at is unknown lead Joe Alwyn, and as a still photo it offers no clue whatsoever as to how Lee's 120 fps gamble will work out.

The photo does, however, do a good job of capturing the almost surreal feel of Billy's experience at the game. And maybe that's the right approach. Billy Lynn will make headlines for Lee's use of 120 FPS, but at its heart it's a sharp dramedy about a young soldier thrust into the limelight, experiencing first hand the uneasy relationship between American civilian society and the men and women we send into battle. The technology might impress, but those emotions will be what lingers. We hope.

With the first-look photo out, it shouldn't be too much longer before we get our first trailer. While we wait: Peter caught some early footage from Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk at CinemaCon (albeit not in 120 FPS), and you can hear his reaction here. 

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk opens November 11. Here's the synopsis:

Three-time Academy Award® winner Ang Lee brings his extraordinary vision to Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, based on the widely-acclaimed, bestselling novel. The film is told from the point of view of 19-year-old private Billy Lynn (newcomer Joe Alwyn) who, along with his fellow soldiers in Bravo Squad, becomes a hero after a harrowing Iraq battle and is brought home temporarily for a victory tour. Through flashbacks, culminating at the spectacular halftime show of the Thanksgiving Day football game, the film reveals what really happened to the squad – contrasting the realities of the war with America's perceptions. The film also stars Kristen Stewart, Chris Tucker, Garrett Hedlund, with Vin Diesel, and Steve Martin. Lee used new technology, shooting at an ultra-high frame rate for the first time in film history, to create an immersive digital experience helping him dramatize war in a way never seen before.