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Day Zero opens at a point in time when the Iraqi
War is still raging and the universal conscription act (the Draft) has
been reactivated. The film begins with archival footage of the draft during
World War II, Korea and Vietnam, complete with the accompanying protests.
We then see the draft notices as they whiz through the mail sorters and
onto mail trucks for a collision course with the film's three protagonists.
George Rifkin (Chris Klein) is a young upwardly mobile lawyer married
to Molly (Gennifer Goodwin), a cancer survivor. James Dixon (Jon Bernthal)
is a taxi cab driver with few ties to anything or anyone. Aaron Feller
(Elijah Wood) is a novelist and apparently a loner, who is working on
his second novel when he receives his draft notice. We see each at work-George
in his office, Dixon in his cab and Aaron at his computer. They each receive
their notice with differing reaction; George with anger and complete disbelief,
aiming to fight it. Dixon with resolve as he remembers 911 and wants to
stop terrorism. He nails the notice to the wall of his apartment with
a knife. Aaron . . . he pukes.
The three men, who are good friends, meet at the local bar, where the
seeds of dissent are sowed between George and Dixon. Aaron is overwhelmed.
His book won't be finished on time. He has so much to do. George thinks
of ways to get out of the draft, including "being gay." Dixon
goes about his life, but meets Patricia (Elizabeth Moss), a sociologist
who is immediately attracted by Dixon's rough charm. Dixon has befriended
the neighbor's daughter, a sweet ten year old, who has a crush on him.
Aaron visits with his Therapist, Dr. Reynolds (Ally Sheedy), who is marginally
aware that he is even there. He's afraid that he won't fit in to army
life, that they won't like him. Dr. Reynolds ignores him.
Aaron inspects his chest. He's puny and underdeveloped. He meets Dixon
at the gym and panics. "I'm fucked," he moans. "I'm fat
and skinny at the same time. I'm fucked." In an amusing scene, Dixon
tries to help him lifting weights.
George seeks out his father, who has connections, and after considering
the question of honor, asks his father to "call the senator."
His father wisely says that "This (issue) goes to the core of a man
and nobody can tell him what to do."
Aaron wrestles with a bowcraft machine, which implodes while he's on it.
Poor guy. George explores the possibilities of becoming a "conscientious
objector." At the bar, George announces he's not going into the Army.
When the possibility of dying is mentioned, Aaron begins to kvetch. "Do
you really think were going to die?" His panic starts to bubble.
Molly is declared cancer free and there's a party to celebrate. Dixon
holds court to a discussion on serving and the war. He insults one of
the guests and George throws Dixon out. Things get violent and Dixon socks
George in the jaw. Molly orders Dixon out. George explains to Molly that
Dixon was his protector in High School. There's a genuine bond.
Dixon dates Patricia and things get hot. He tells her that his father
was an abuser, which explains his own violent nature. Aaron tries to write
his novel, but the constant rattle of the news from Iraq creeps into his
writer's zone. He is blocked. While exercising on a gym ball, he has another
useless session with Dr. Reynolds. She suggests he make a list. "You
mean, like a top 10 list?" He does and he tells George and Dixon
at the bar. They laugh at him, which doesn't daunt him in the least.
Aaron picks up a woman in the bar. "Wanna get out of here."
They get to his apartment and she strips: "We're not here to talk,"
she says, but that's all he does. He just babbles on (non-stop) about
the war. Hours later, he's still babbling and still dressed. She leaves
and he tells her: "We have to do this again some time." She
laughs.
The film contrasts the lifestyle of the three friends, with Dixon at work,
George at his family's hoity-toity dinner and Aaron alone in his apartment.
Aaron roams the streets. He visits a sex shop, goes up to the counter.
"Peep Show?" he asks. The owner says: "$10. With masturbation,
$20." "You mean if I jerk off it costs more?" Aaron blurts.
"Not you, you idiot. The girl." He gets his peep show and the
stripper asks him: "Taking out your cock?" He stares at her
bewildered. "Maybe later."
Dixon's new relationship with Patricia starts to provoke questions about
whether he should serve and lose this new relationship. He hasn't told
her yet. Aaron finally is left staring at his novel. The only word he
can type is WAR. George becomes more and more dysfunctional, especially
after his father tells him he cannot get "the senator" to intervene.
At work, he curses out a client. He gets drunk-ugly drunk. He tries to
maim himself with a meat cleaver, but can't even do that. Finally, he
takes Aaron to a Gay Bar and in the bar freaks out at the Gay men because
they are all exempt from service, "just for having a sausage party!"
He fights and gets pummeled.
Aaron calls Dixon, who comes to George's aid, but wonders why Aaron doesn't
have a scratch on him. "I had ten men on me." Aaron also asks,
during a quiet lull: "What's a sausage party?" Dixon takes his
buddies to an abandoned tug boat, where they smoke pot. Each confesses
the worst thing they ever did in their life. Dixon says he almost killed
his mother abusing father. George admits to having left a girl to her
fate with a bunch of gang bangers. Aaron says, "I'm a frog."
He plagiarized the story of his first novel. The others laugh at him.
"I still had to write the fucking thing."
Aaron visits his therapist, who is more interested in the crossword puzzle.
"What's a six letter word for a Latin dance?" Aaron is becoming
more and more obsessive. "I bet the first ones to die are the ones
that nobody likes. I'm bet I'm one of those guys." Dr. Reynolds response:
"Salsa." "That's five letters. It's cha-cha." He continues
down his top 10 list and goes to a sleazy neighborhood in the rain and
picks up a hooker. She opens his fly, and he premature ejaculates. She
giggles and he says: "Thanks." But her pimp roughs him up and
takes his wallet. He calls Dixon, who beats the living hell out of the
pimp and then goes crazy on Aaron and leaves him alone in the street.
Aaron looks in the bathroom mirror. He starts to give himself drill sergeant
commands and answers himself. He get demonically crazed and shouts "I
will die for you!" over and over again. George, after watching a
video Molly made in case she had died from her cancer, finally reaches
some resolve. Dixon tells Patricia that he's been drafted and she's not
pleased he waited to tell her. Meanwhile, Aaron gets his head shaved and
then gets his scalp tattooed. At the first needle prick he screams "Fuck!"
But it's done. He goes home and destroys his laptop.
The three friends meet at a café just before a Peace Rally. Dixon
and George make their peace and will acquiesce in each others decision.
When Aaron shows up, they see his head and they tell him; "We're
worried about you." "Fuck you guys," he says and leaves.
"Will we see you tomorrow at Penn Station?" He mumbles and walks
through the rally crowd.
Aaron calls his sister. We learn that he hasn't seen his family in a long
time. He tells her that he's in New York City. His sister berates him
as their father had a heart attack and they had no where to contact him.
"I've been drafted," he says. His sister replies: "Good
luck with that <click>"
George hears from his father that the Senator has intervened. George however
indicates he will probably go. Dixon tells Patricia that if she wants
him to stay, he will. Aaron goes to the roof, seems finally at peace and
then runs to the edge and leaps to his death. His list survives him. The
last entry was "#10-Gone with Honor."
George and Dixon meet at Penn Station. We never know if they have come
for induction or to say goodbye to each other. Neither knows that Aaron
is finally at peace.
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