Part Five of HBO's groundbreaking WWII docudrama miniseries, Band of Brothers, was directed by executive producer Tom Hanks. In this episode, "Crossroads," Colonel Sink (series technical advisor Dale Dye) promotes Captain Winters (Damian Lewis) to Battalion Executive Officer. While Easy Company, under the command of Lieutenant "Moose" Heyliger (Stephen McCole of Rushmore), rescues a large group of British soldiers who are in hiding after getting trapped behind enemy lines during Operation Market Garden, Winters sits behind a desk, typing out a report of the company's previous encounter with the Germans. Winters, at the insistence of his friend, intelligence officer Lieutenant Nixon (Ron Livingston), takes leave and travels to Paris, but he's too distracted by his memories of combat -- in particular his shooting of one young German soldier -- to enjoy his trip. Upon his return to battalion headquarters, he has a brief encounter with the injured Sergeant "Buck" Compton (Neal McDonough), who also seems haunted by his battle experience. Then, Winters joins the company as they race to the front, where they meet other Allied forces, retreating from a vicious German counterattack in the Ardennes Forest. Here, Easy Company, ill-equipped to deal with the cold weather and short on rations and ammo, is charged with helping defend the strategic crossroads of Bastogne from German attack. Viewers may spot Jimmy Fallon of Saturday Night Live, who makes a brief appearance as a lieutenant dropping off some ammo for the company. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Review
Tom Hanks directed the fifth installment of Band of Brothers, and "Crossroads" delves further than before into the character of Dick Winters (Damian Lewis), his courage, his tactical expertise, and the personal toll the war is taking on him. It's the most moving of the episodes so far, focusing on a character the audience has already come to know, and giving a glimpse of his personal view of combat. This is the first segment in the series that has attempted to "get inside the head" of one of the soldiers. It opens with a scene of Winters running up a hill, coming upon a surprised German, and shooting him. The sequence is shot from Winters' point of view, and it turns out to be a flashback. Later, in a scene reminiscent of the opening scene of Brian DePalma's Casualties of War, Winters is shown on leave in Paris, riding a train, where the smiling face of a French teenager brings on another flashback of the young German he shot. Winters' trauma does not stop him from doing his job, although his displeasure with a promotion that puts him behind a desk is palpable. It's clear that he wants to be the one to lead his men into battle. This episode also contains a couple of lighter moments, as one would hope for from Hanks. In one instance, former Harvard English major David Webster (Eion Bailey), suffers a minor wound during a skirmish. He falls to the ground and cries out, "They got me!" Later, while his injury is being tended to, he embarrassedly recalls his reaction, " 'They got me'...Can you believe I said that?" The miniseries is at its best when the individual personalities of these men shine through the grime and grit of the realistic combat. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Credit
Tom Hanks - Director; Erik Jendresen - Screenwriter
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