The war drama Fury contains both strength and weakness. It takes place in 1945 when American tankers are fighting for their lives against the Germans in the WWII American Theatre. During the beginning of the film, Commander Army Sergeant Don “Wardaddy” Collier, part of the 2nd Armored Division, climbs out of his tank to the revelation that all tanks around them are grounded -- and the soldiers are dead.

Although the war is almost over, there’s still business to take care of. Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) has been assigned a new assistant driver, Norman Elison (Logan Lerman), who’s like a peanut in a can of cashews. Trained as a typist, Norman knows nothing about fighting a war, shooting a gun and especially driving a tank. Wardaddy has seen it all, looked after his men, killed a bunch of Germans, lost one of his own, and is not about to babysit a newbie. “I had the best gunner in the 9th Army and now I got you,” he tells Norman. He follows that by issuing the newbie all kinds of demands. The first is to clean up the bloody remains of the soldier they just lost, and then to kill a German.

The rest of the team members -- gunner Boyd Swan (Shia LaBeouf), driver Trini Garcia (Michael Peña), mechanic Grady Travis (Jon Bernthal) -- have no desire to be in more danger by Norman’s lack of knowledge. As their Sherman tank comes upon an occasional German tank, they yell at him when to fire his gun and where. While Norman thinks the commander dislikes him, inside Wardaddy feels the responsibly to keep every man alive, but especially this young boy who does not belong in this war.

Camaraderie among these crew members appears quite strong. They all know their lives depend on each other. Bible-verse- preaching Boyd offers words that give them some peaceful moments whether they believe or not. I think this is one of LaBeouf’s strongest roles. He’s like sunshine after a storm, even if they know that storm may never end.

Trini drinks too much, which is where some of his humor comes from, but he’s serious as a red light when moving that tank. Grady can load big bullets into the firing holes as fast as bullets leaving a machine gun. Some of that obligation may be the cause of his dour personality.

Pitt is exceptional as Wardaddy, who has told his men they will all go home, but as time goes by, uncertainty plagues him. He must also try to mask his favoritism for Norman in changing him from a boy to a man. With each step Pitt takes in every scene, his dominance makes one believe he had actual experience as a wartime soldier.

“We got to meet several vets who were all in their 90s,” said Pitt. “They had survived D-Day landings, and the Battle of the Bulge… it was a very humbling experience to sit in their presence and listen to their stories. They had very visceral descriptions of what it was like to be in the tank: the heat, the exhaust, it was oily; the smell of death was always in the air.  Most of them were undertrained, they were underequipped, and they were dealing with incredible hardships and weather, lack of food, lack of sleep.  And they had to push on under the most harrowing of conditions.”

Only two moments in the film appear hopeful. One involves a large group of Allied bombers flying overhead, which make the men feel that’s a good thing for them. The other occurs when the men take over a small town and Wardaddy notices a young girl in the window of a half destroyed building. He takes Norman with him, and even though the girl and another woman are afraid, Wardaddy brings them some eggs he found outside and communicates with them to make everyone breakfast. What happens next is very special for Norman, until the boys barge in and Grady spoils everything.

This excellent film can often be unpleasant to watch. Everything about the war could be real. Tanks rolling over dead bodies, many killed, and explosions everywhere consume most of the movie. When Wardaddy and his team face 300 German soldiers marching towards them, they know the odds are against them.  

(Released by Columbia Pictures and rated “R” for strong sequences of war violence, some grisly images, and language throughout.)

Review also posted at www.reviewexpress.com.