Today, Mr. Roesch is the co-owner of a master franchising firm called Dazser, Inc. It employs sixty individuals and took in $40 million in revenue last year. The company has offices in Tampa, Baltimore, Birmingham, Charlotte, and Orlando, and is still expanding. Most impressively, Dazser was in the Incorporated 400 four times; just one more time will land it in the Hall of Fame.

Dazser sells and supports franchises of Jani-King, an international commercial cleaning business. Jani-King has offices in almost every major U.S. city and more than 20 countries abroad. Dazser provides its Jani-King franchises with marketing, sales, and accounting services.

Initially, when Roesch and his friend, David Zillig, decided to enter business together, they only planned to purchase an individual franchise. Franchises are proven business models, so it seemed a safe venture. They chose Jani-King because it was the franchise ranked second highest return on investment. Instead of opening a single franchise, however, they opened their own company to sell Jani-King franchises.

Roesch and Zillig encountered several challenges on their way to success. In Dazser’s infancy, the men worked 14-hour days cleaning office buildings. Neither took a salary. Because they lacked much working capital, they financed their first expansion by opening as many credit cards as possible. “Building the business to the size where it can support itself takes several years,” Roesch attests. “We didn’t realize it would take so long to get over that hump. We thought within 10 or 15 years we would be retired.”

This initial setback did not extinguish their determination. Motivation and ambition are essential to the success of a business. Since Roesch and Zillig were responsible for their profits and losses and not reliant on the government, they were driven to succeed.

An ongoing obstacle Roesch faces is finding and keeping good employees. Jani-King requires the lowest initial investment of any franchise in the world. Buyers are less likely to remain committed because there is not a lot of money at stake. Roesch says, “It’s hard to get people to act like business owners when they are not your employees.” He attributes overcoming challenges like this to his well-balanced partnership with Zillig.

Another characteristic necessary to success is the desire for profit. This mentality is what drives businesses to better their products; naturally, this pleases the consumer. In a nation where the government controls commerce, consumers rarely are satisfied. The government knows individuals will buy goods out of necessity and has no incentive to improve. In a capitalist economy, however, businessmen work in their own interests, resulting in better and more affordable products.

Dazser seeks to earn profits by addressing a problem with commercial cleaning services. Small “mom and pop” companies have great customer service and close supervision but often do not have proper training or insurance. Big national companies have the opposite problem. Jani-King is a big company with proper procedures and record-keeping combined with the small business owner who provides customer service and supervision. Their interest in making money benefits those looking for a reliable cleaning service.

Dazser engages in other profit-seeking ventures that please the customer. Unlike other master franchisers, Dazser promises initial business to those who purchase Jani-King franchises. Roesch says, “When someone purchases a franchise from us, part of our commitment to them is to provide them with some customers.” This unique guarantee – though it helps small business – is applied only because it brings Roesch revenue.

This kind of self-interest is what drives individuals to turn profit while incidentally benefiting their communities. Roesch became an entrepreneur for personal gain, not to make a difference in the world. “I wanted to be financially secure at as early an age as possible. I didn’t want to help anyone.”

Dazser supports its communities by putting 10 percent of its profit into charities such as Young Life and Family First. Public knowledge of this boosts the company’s appeal in the community. The company has also been converting to “green” cleaning technologies, but as Roesch points out, “not because it’s required but because it’s a good business practice. It’s a marketing strategy that is a way to separate us from our competition.”

This notion of self-regulation is truly at the heart of successful business. The best perk of being his own employer, Roesch says, is “control over all aspects of the business.” The government, however, still imposes many requirements on businesses that decrease their effectiveness.

For example, government mandates such as those imposed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are more harmful than helpful. Roesch is against the quota in hiring employees because it doesn’t allow him to hire the best candidate for a job and limits his ability to fire underperforming employees without fear of frivolous legal retaliation. “Anybody can walk in to the EEOC and file a complaint without a single shred of evidence. It costs him nothing and costs us thousands of dollars just to reply to the inquiry.”

Despite government red tape, Roesch is glad he made a career in business. He works approximately 30 hours a week doing what he loves and gains personal satisfaction from engaging in work that will make people more productive and businesses more profitable. Additionally, Roesch says, “Business can be a reflection of our values and principles; we can use it to help others.”

The most interesting part of Stephen Roesch’s story is the lesson that business is more than just a job to an entrepreneur. From a young age, Roesch was involved in starting businesses and spearheading productivity and finance projects. Entrepreneurship is a lifestyle sustained by personality traits such as zeal and motivation for profits.

Mr. Roesch says the most important thing he has learned from his career has been that what really matters is the journey, not the destination. As people and businesses grow, ideals and goals may change, and this is good. His advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is simply, “Do it.”

Today’s headlines are ridden with warnings of the impending doom of the American economy. Layoffs, dividend cuts, and even bankruptcy have become the norm for businesses around the country. Despite this difficult climate, a handful of college students ignored the crumbling markets and engaged in an activity that is at the heart of economic growth: they started their own business.

It is not uncommon to hear of an enterprising college student starting a simple business such as babysitting, a laundry service, or tutoring. But the project started by Jake Klinvex and Dan Kervick is not your typical Sunday afternoon carwash. No, these Villanova University students thought outside the box and created a web-based concept that provides a much needed tool to businesses.

Their idea is called “Persontation” (www.persontation.com). It is a video communication system that brings the internet, Microsoft Office, and webcams to the same interface. With an account and unique domain name, a company can use Persontation to create custom video productions complete with accompanying graphs, charts, text, or images. Persontation works seamlessly with all Office applications as well as Adobe software.

Persontation had a classic beginning in the sophomore dorms of Klinvex and Kervick. In less than two years their staff has grown to 15 employees, including subcontracted software developers in Pakistan. The successful concept and subsequent growth of Persontation has not gone unnoticed. The founders are currently finalizing the sale of their startup to a local financial services software company, eMoney Advisor. After being acquired, Klinvex and Kervick plan to continue operations as a subsidiary of eMoney Advisor. Being a part of a larger, more established organization will give these entrepreneurs the additional resources they need to increase their sales, improve their customer service, and explore new areas of development.

Kervick describes that the most difficult hurdle to starting Persontation was securing financing for the operations of the company in the midst of a global financial crisis, tightening credit markets, and decreasing risk tolerance. The costs to create this service totaled approximately $100,000. This includes software development, travel costs, and printed materials. Despite the daunting price tag, the founders’ status as students helped to remove personal compensation from the equation and allowed them to contribute the necessary time to build their project while keeping expenses low. Startup capital was provided primarily from personal savings of the founders and a few friends.

Selling their idea was another challenge. Their concept needed to be marketed to potential investors, clients, and any firm that would have an interest in acquiring Persontation. Kervick found that the youth of Persontation’s team was an unexpected asset in the sales process. The clients perceived that younger generations are by definition technologically savvy and therefore their idea would be feasible. Kervick anticipates 2009 revenues at roughly $2.8 million. The success of Persontation in obtaining clients and being acquired by eMoney clearly demonstrates their technical skills and ability to sell their service.

Understanding that youth was not enough of an advantage to get a new online service started, Persontation’s management team approached James Danko, the Dean of Villanova’s School of Business, who was impressed with their work. Dean Danko then referred Persontation to VSB alumnus Edmond Walters, founder and CEO of eMoney Advisor. Leveraging what little capital was available and using priceless resources such as Dean Danko, Klinvex and Kervick propelled their innovative idea to new heights.

Through this unique experience, Dan Kervick has learned that “Small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy.” According to Kervick, the way to stimulate the economy is to reduce taxes on small businesses and provide incentives and safety nets to those taking appropriate risks, such as entrepreneurs. “To actually create wealth and shake a recession, the federal government should not disproportionately benefit those who work less and who are less likely to take risks and create jobs for others,” explains Kervick. As a successful entrepreneur, Kervick is thankful that this country and its economic structure are still favorable towards small businesses. However, he is worried by the potential deterrent to entrepreneurs that increased taxes would present.

Persontation and its management recognize that they are very blessed to have enjoyed their level of success. Because of this they recognize their duty to provide assistance to those who are not as fortunate. Persontation is committed to assisting philanthropic organization that it views as having a “strong purpose.” They screen potential groups, donate a Persontation account to the top organizations, and feature them in a Philanthropy section of their website. One of the supported philanthropies, Bread for Bread, collects donations from restaurant patrons when they receive complimentary bread in order to support local food banks.

Persontation also reaches out to several student groups at Villanova that are seeking to start their own businesses. Some of these groups are affiliated with the fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon and the business ideas being worked on include a political website and a Greek community website. Kervick and Klinvex realize the contribution that others have made in their venture and in turn seek to encourage and inspire other potential entrepreneurs.

In light of current events, many Americans can take courage from the story of Kervick, Klinvex, and Persontation. Despite their environment, two college students demonstrated remarkable vision by pooling their talent and resources and bringing an idea to life. Enabling its clients to personify their projects, Persontation may be the future in presentation methods and could someday be a name as common as PowerPoint.

What an outsider might not guess is that Kramer stumbled across his job as a landlord “purely by mistake – or serendipity.” In 1990, having spent about twenty years in the pest-control business, he planned to purchase a piece of property on East LaSalle Street. He had intended to tear the house down and convert the land into a parking facility for business trucks. However, when he approached the owner, he learned that some St. Mary’s students had a lease for the following year. Kramer bought the property anyway, intending to honor their lease and then follow through with his original plan.

By September or October, though, he had received inquires from Notre Dame students about renting the house for another year. “I just kept going,” Kramer said. “I had to turn students away because I only owned the one house. At first, I still planned on turning the property into parking, but after a while I started asking the students questions about what they wanted.”

In 2004, he sold his pest-control business and began purchasing property aggressively. Kramer noted that there are two main parts of his job: “The first is ‘rehabbing’ older homes and making them a vibrant part of the community. The second part would be the people. I’ve met so many people in this business, and I really do enjoy meeting the students and parents and interacting with them. Everyday, there’s a surprise, and it’s usually a good one. The rewards of my job are much greater than the drawbacks.”
When questioned about the negative aspects of being a landlord for students, Kramer admitted that he certainly faces difficulties. “This is the first time the students have lived alone, and they’re not familiar with the inner workings of homes. It may sound petty, for example, but many of them don’t know what should be put down a garbage disposal. So maintenance can be an issue, because the students don’t know how to use a house.”

He was slower to mention what many assume would be the main challenge in the student housing business: partying. “Naturally, there are some students who have had a few too many parties by the time the year is over. Our goal is not to take their deposits, but sometimes we find that we need to – and we are constantly showing them how to get their deposit back.” He added, “We educate the students too: they need to learn how to be neighborly and live in a home. And by in large, they respect the houses.”
Kramer emphasized that the student safety is a greater concern than property damage. “Student safety is an issue that I do not take lightly,” he asserted. “I feel the same responsibility towards each one of my tenants as if they were my son or daughter.”
In addition to hiring his own security guards, Kramer pointed out that each of his homes is furnished with an ADT security system and good lighting. “It’s an ongoing challenge,” he concluded, “and the very worst thing that could happen is if one of my tenants should be physically harmed.”

Less flexible people might have found the transition from the pest control business to the property businesses rather abrupt, but Kramer finds the two businesses similar in one essential respect: customer service. “Both are about serving clientele and built on the same model of superior service,” he remarked. “If you offer excellent service, people will come back and refer others to you. My time in the pest-control business was useful for the advertising experience, but even there, year after year, around thirty-five percent of my business came from referrals.”

Now, Kramer estimates that fifty percent of his business comes from word-of-mouth referrals from students. He cited an example of a family of six brothers, four of whom have lived or are currently living in one of his houses. “The fifth brother will be in another home next year, and they tell me the sixth will very likely come to Notre Dame and live in one my houses too.”

Kramer highlighted the pleasure he derives from these interactions with the students: “I show the majority of properties myself, and when one student comes, I see brothers, sisters, cousins, and friends.”
Kramer quipped, “Conceivably, one day, I’ll see a son or daughter of a tenant living in one of my houses – but I hope my daughter will be running the business by then.” Kramer Properties can be called a family-orientated business in more ways than one: his daughter is one of Kramer’s six employees and works as the company’s leasing agent.

Kramer attributes his success to the quality of the service that he provides. He said, “The first house that I rented was popular, but in less than desirable condition when I bought it. The students were happy because that was the norm.” During the first summer he owned the original rental, he made substantial improvements to the property, including carpeting the bedrooms and replacing the roof, windows, siding, and floor.
“When the girls who had rented it came back in the fall, they came to me and asked, ‘What happened to our house?’” he recounted. “They were juniors, and right away they signed a lease for the following year. And when they moved out, they had it rented out for the next two years.”
Kramer felt there was an essential difference between him and the typical landlord. Kramer explained that many landlords have the attitude that “they’re students; they’ll tear it up anyway.”

Contrary to this, Kramer thinks that “if you give a young person an old, beat-up car, they’ll treat it like one. And in the same way, if you give them a shiny new car, they’ll want to keep it in that condition. My attitude is to always look at our houses with the question ‘Would I allow my daughter to live in this house?’ in mind. If the answer is no, then the house isn’t fit for the students.”

Kramer stated that he does “as much as he can to make the experience enjoyable for the students.” Students’ experiences extend to everyday details of living, not just the moment they move in. Kramer commented, “I don’t make the students wait a long time for a plumbing difficulty or something of the kind. I expect them to do their part, and they have a right to expect that I will do mine.”

His philosophy goes a long way toward explaining why Kramer Properties has always enjoyed a one hundred percent occupancy rate. Ninety percent occupancy is the rental industry norm. “I hope to be doing this for a long, long time to come,” he concluded sincerely.

Its title succinctly summarizes the objective of the book: to encourage young people to seek a collegiate experience more akin to Plato’s Academy than to John Belushi’s Animal House. Langan is well-versed in Platonic teaching and uses this philosophy as a starting point for the book. Yet, although the work is inspired by philosophical truths, it is by no means an erudite piece of philosophy; rather, it is very conversational, an easy read for the average freshman.

This slim paperback is first and foremost practical, with advice regarding, among other things, making a schedule, avoiding late nights, and creating a vision of one’s future a month, a year, and ten years in advance. However, Langan offers more than a “to do” list– he provides the philosophical basis for his admonitions, interspersing pragmatic suggestions with quotes and explanations from Plato, Scripture, and others. Not only does Langan present his material in a lucid manner, but he does so in an approachable way. For example, Langan writes a chapter on alcohol and its potential dangers in a balanced fashion, neither puritanical nor lax. Throughout his work, the author instructs young people in perhaps the greatest challenge of college, and indeed, of all phases in life: how to become virtuous.

By the end of the work, Langan establishes the building blocks upon which an individual may embark on the struggle of virtue. Utilizing a model he learned from Coach John Wooden, UCLA’s ten-time NCAA basketball champion, Langan describes the “mountain of virtue,” which contains a triangle of fifteen virtues arranged in a certain order. One finds virtues such as humility and sincerity lining the base of the mountain, with charity at its peak. Theory becomes practicality as Langan describes the implications of virtue, which extend to all areas of a student’s life. One such area is one’s friendships and romantic relationships. In a time of true crisis regarding courtship and marriage, the author provides fresh insights into the secrets of how to build strong relationships based in virtue. Langan’s discussion of virtue and its implications for the college student’s life offers an excellent conclusion to an entertaining and formative book.

Written for the college freshman, From Animal House to the Academy provides a guide to living a virtuous life and succeeding in college and beyond. It is so helpful that indeed most anyone in any stage of life could benefit from the author’s wise words. So whether as a present to a graduating high school senior or a fun read for anyone wanting to live a more virtuous life, From Animal House to the Academy does not disappoint.

Philharmonia Orchestra, Geoffrey Mitchell Choir/David Parry

Chandos 3057, 3 CDs, 2 hours, 38 minutes
($25.99 on ArkivMusic.com: Click here to buy this CD)

Mozart: The Abduction from Seraglio

Jenifer Eddy, Mattiwilda Dobbs, Nicolai Gedda, John Fryatt, Noel Magnin, David Kelsey

Ambrosian Singers, Bath Festival Orchestra/Yehudi Menuhin

Chandos 3081, 2 CDs, 2 hours, 13 minutes
($25.99 on ArkivMusic.com: Click here to buy this CD)

Some three years ago, I reviewed two other operas by Mozart in Chandos’ “Opera in English” series
and found them to be very good indeed. I am no less enthusiastic about these entries in this valuable series.

Maestro David Parry gives us the original “Prague” version of Don Giovanni , which does not include two arias that Mozart composed for the Vienna production: Ottavio’s “Dalla sua pace” and Elvira’s “Mi Tradi.” Many listeners will miss these pieces (which are part of the standard hybrid version of the opera typically presented today), but the dramatic flow of the opera is strengthened by their omission.

The English translation is generally very fine, though for some reason, the original words of the libretto are sometimes gratuitously altered, for no apparent reason and often to the detriment of the genius of Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte’s original. For example, in the cemetery scene, when Giovanni recounts his amorous encounter with one of Leporello’s girlfriends, the angry servant cries out, “I’d kill you if she had been my wife!” Giovanni responds sarcastically: “What a warning!” In the original, the exchange (translated more faithfully into English) goes like this:

Leporello: “And suppose the lady had been my wife?”

Giovanni (laughing): “Even better!”

Why Chandos and translator Amanda Holden undermined the cleverness of the original libretto here is puzzling. Despite this intermittent annoyance, this Giovanni is consistently enjoyable. Parry’s cast is strong, though none of the singers would be a first choice in their roles. Still, they work well as a team, acting their parts as well as singing them.

The surprise for me was Yehudi Menuhin’s outstanding 1967 recording of Mozart’s delightful Abduction from the Seraglio. The Polish conductor brings a light touch to this sunny opera, and the cast here, led by the famous tenor Nicolai Gedda, is absolutely first-rate. Mozart’s German singspiels work especially well in English, and here the translation is quite faithful to the original libretto. The sound is outstanding. This is a triumph in every way and takes its place among the great recording of this work.

 
Grade:Don Giovanni

Performance: B+

Sound: A

Grade:The Abduction from the Seraglio

The London Baroque & Charles Medlam
Harmonia Mundi: B0012OR006

($13.99 on ArkivMusic.com: Click here to buy this CD)

Grade

Performance: A

Sound: A

Nick Fitzgerald is the Editor in Chief of The Virginia Informer Online, the Collegiate Network member publication at The College of William and Mary.

In discussing whether she should have a “closed” or “open” adoption, for example, Juno states her opinion rather emphatically: “Wait… No! I mean, can’t we just, like, kick this old school? Like, I have the baby, put it in a basket and send it your way, like, Moses and the reeds?” It was also a relief to find that Juno does not inspire intense feelings of depression about babies in general, or invoke vows never to procreate, which seems to be the effect of many pregnancy films (like Riding in Cars With Boys, for example, in which the movie’s audience basically watches the teen mother’s life become progressively hopeless and dysfunctional for 90 minutes).

Rather, Juno strikes an incredibly sensitive balance between struggle and reward, serious and sincere, without ever being hokey or over-simplified. Best of all, the movie has a securely pro-life message — non-preachy but nonetheless compelling, Juno will definitely have audiences questioning what feminists have historically championed as the “necessity” of abortion.

Perhaps Juno’s most provocative pro-life element is the sixteen-year-old’s reaction to her pregnancy. Initially shocked and horrified, Juno takes three pregnancy tests before she can accept the truth and quickly decides to abort. Not surprisingly, her primary reason for calling the local women’s clinic is shame; the ridicule of her peers, the reproach of her parents, and the convenience of abortion combine to make the procedure an extremely attractive proposition. Although the audience can sense a certain reluctance on Juno’s part, she goes ahead to the clinic because it is her only hope of continuing her worry-free adolescent life; abortion is fast, accessible, and final, qualities that make it exceptionally easy to end a life without thinking twice.

Juno, however, does think twice, and it is a combination of being told that her baby already has fingernails and being disgusted by the clinic itself that drives her to reconsider. Realizing that the fetus already has such tiny details lends a real, tangible humanity to it, and the nonchalant, matter-of-fact feel of the abortion clinic sends her running from it, convinced that there is something wrong with the whole affair. Specifically, the receptionist’s monotone suggestion that Juno take a free scented condom along with her medical forms, her refusal to call the unborn child a baby, and the general business-like atmosphere in a place of death is something that Juno intuitively does not want to be a part of—so she leaves.

Clearly, the movie’s clinic is a reference to Planned Parenthood, but the issue of abortion is never politicized or put in a larger moral context; Juno’s reaction speaks for itself, and her intuitive refusal to go through with the process speaks more loudly than any pointed targeting could. This is perhaps why Juno has been such a hugely successful film — it has raked in more than $120,000,000, according to The New York Observer, and it won Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars.

However, while one would assume that such raving success would land Juno a good deal of critical acclaim and attention in the film world, a different abortion-themed movie is, in fact, this year’s darling. It is called 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, and it recounts the difficult and dangerous process of aborting a pregnancy in 1987 Communist Romania, under the brutal Ceausescu dictatorship.

Critics love it because it apparently “stuns the soul” (The Detroit News), and in their swooning admiration they have given the movie nearly every existing film award; it won three different awards at Cannes, Best Film at the 2007 European Film Awards, Best Foreign Language Film from the LA Film Critics Association, and Best Film of 2007 from the Sight and Sound Critics Poll, just to name a few (ifcfilms.com). For all that 4 Months is “a searing film, shot…in long, unbroken takes that wrap around you like a vise” (Scott Foundas, LA Weekly), however, it has only opened in two theatres nationwide (Jill Stanek column, wnd.com) and has been snubbed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — the Oscars — who chose to nominate it for Best Foreign Film instead of Best Film, like Juno.

Critics are angry, bewildered, and hurt that their hard-core, provocative “power house” (Kenneth Turan, LA Times) has been snubbed by average moviegoers, normal people who would somehow prefer a funny film about growing up to a melodramatic, angst-ridden indy brainchild whose main purpose is so obviously to promote legal abortion — late-term ones, no less.

And therein lies the difference — Juno has been so much more successful in the mainstream because it does not seek to promote, decry, or convince. It is an intensely personal story, so wrapped around Juno’s specific circumstance and experience that the pro-life message is subtly, quietly ingrained as an afterthought.

Evidently, a battle of ideology is currently raging in the film world, one that most of Juno’s fans are not particularly interested in fighting. They just saw the movie and were touched by something in it — the only thing Juno really convinces us of is that Michael Cera really should try to avoid short shorts.
Beyond that, the movie leaves the politicizing to the politicians, offering one humble example of how and why abortion is not the only solution to teen pregnancy.

Yes, Juno is made fun of at school, doesn’t like the way her body changes, and has to deal with the emotions of giving up a child — but after nine months, it’s all over, and she has survived.

This message — that you don’t have to kill to survive — is what gives Juno such compelling substance behind its humor, and whether or not Hollywood or Cannes agree, everyone else seems to like it just fine.

Olivia Blanchard is a Staff Writer for The Carolina Review, a Collegiate Network member publication at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This article was originally featured in the April 2008 issue of The Carolina Review.

The first 15 to 20 minutes of the film progress with no dialogue, yet we see an oil man coming to life. Although the film runs a bit slowly at times, Day-Lewis’ phenomenal acting keeps the audience captivated. Right from the start of the film, Day-Lewis steps into the role of Daniel Plainview, making the two indistinguishable. In the beginning, he really makes the audience believe that he is, indeed, a family man.

Plainview and his son make their way to the Sunday ranch, meeting the entire family, including another young man named Eli Sunday, also played by Paul Dano. Now, whether Paul and Eli Sunday are twin brothers or there is some other issue in Eli’s psyche is left to the viewer’s interpretation, for as the movie progresses, either option remains plausible.

Dano’s character, Eli, plays the town priest, bent on renovating his Church no matter what it takes. Previously known for his role in Little Miss Sunshine, Dano plays a much different role in this film. Dano’s role in There Will Be Blood, for one, is a speaking role, and as an overzealous priest, he would never be seen wearing those quirky t-shirts that read “Jesus Was Wrong” like his Little Miss Sunshine character. In this film, Dano’s acting is superb, but when he shares the screen with Day-Lewis, he doesn’t stand a chance. In his own scenes he steals the spotlight, his character preaching the Bible while simultaneously looking out for only his own ambitions.

As the story progresses, Day-Lewis’ character begins to unravel, and the audience starts to see Plainview’s true persona beneath his “family man” cover. When a drilling accident causes his son to lose his hearing, Plainview’s only thoughts are, “There’s a whole ocean of oil under our feet! No one can get at it except for me.” And for someone who once seemed to care so much for his son, it soon becomes evident that the boy was merely a cute face used for selling the whole “family man” image. It does seem, possibly, that deep down, Plainview does care about family, and Day-Lewis depicts these contrasting feelings marvelously.

In a later scene, Plainview’s supposed half-brother shows up at the Sunday Farm, introducing himself for the first time. As the two become closer, Plainview admits to his brother that he hates most people, adding “There are times when I look at people when I see nothing worth liking. I want to earn enough money that I can get away from everyone … I see the worst in people.”

Plainview’s greed and ruthless ambition grows exponentially as the story goes on, paralleled by Eli’s greed and shamelessness in his church. Anderson’s direction excellently tells the story of this merciless oil man living a lie beneath the cover of family, consisting merely of a son whom he eventually alienates. And, as promised in the title, there will be blood.

The only qualms with this movie are that it drags on at certain points. However, Day-Lewis keeps the audience engaged in every scene he is in, and the story is so unique that one cannot possibly predict how everything will play out.

Nominated for eight Oscars, the film is highly acclaimed, so it is definitely worth seeing, if only to familiarize yourself with this year’s Oscar nominees.

Deena Elgenaidi is Senior Editor for the Collegiate Network publication, The Villanova Times. This article originally appeared in the February 20, 2008 issue of The Times.

Foulkrod’s documentary attempts to present the entire scope of the war veteran’s experience by including interviews with over fifteen different veterans or veterans’ family members as they recount their involvement in the Iraq War. The film does an excellent job at moving chronologically through the experience, beginning with the recruitment and ending with the lives and activities of soldiers after they return home. Snippets of interview from each person tell the story without any narration, an effective style that adds authenticity to the complex narrative.

The audience hears the pre-war stories of some of the veterans, including those of Robert Acosta, who joined the Army as alternative to the gang-oriented lifestyle of his Southern California neighborhood, and Paul Rieckhoff, a third-generation soldier who joined the Army Reserves and volunteered for active duty on the eve of the invasion. These early experiences with the military are presented in a context of naiveté; we hear one veteran explain how his recruiter assured him that he would “definitely” not be involved in combat, and other accounts support the claim that recruiters downplayed the threat of war while stressing the “cool” aspects of the military. The film frames recruitment as an experience of half-truths that gloss over the strife of war, of which we are expected to hear about soon enough.

Before this, however, Foulkrod examines the intensive training the veterans underwent. This segment provides the bulk of the context for the rest of the film. The interviews focus on the intensity and rigor of basic combat training, and we hear about the psychological aspect of the reforming of soldiers into killing machines. With varying degrees of shamefulness, the veterans reveal some details about the indoctrination that occurred during basic training, and we are shown footage of a recruit bayoneting a dummy during training as a veteran recounts with little effort a chant learned in training imploring soldiers to kill Arabs. The intended effect is clearly to negatively present combat training deployed in Iraq as a reconstruction of the mind of the soldier into that of a trained killer.

This smoothly segues into a new narrative about the war itself, and we can understand the ease of the transition from boot camp to the battlefield. The veterans explain how their training put them in a position to perform, in their words, atrocious acts of violence. We are subjected to a particularly emotional story from one soldier about an Iraqi woman who is shot and killed as she approaches a group of Army vehicles. The woman had been told repeatedly to stop, and when she reached into her clothing for what could have been a weapon, the soldiers opened fire. The veteran tells, in what is clearly intended to be the emotional high point of the movie, how the woman was not pulling out a gun but actually a white flag of surrender.

At this point, the film delves into two major post-war issues: the injuries of the interviewed veterans and those veterans’ subsequent forays into anti-war activism. Foulkrod’s underlying agenda rears its ugly head as we are made to sympathize further with already-sympathetic individuals. Through strategic camerawork, she reveals that many of the veterans have physical injuries that the interview shots have obscured, from missing limbs to horrible skin burns that would make the hardest of hearts soften. At the same time, the veiled anti-war statements made by the veterans throughout the movie (“I started to think, what are we doing here?”) become blatant. One minute, Robert Acosta moves us while speaking about losing his left leg, and the next, former soldier and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War Perry O’Brian waxes academic about the meaninglessness of the war.

The revelation that nearly every veteran interviewed for the film is involved with anti-war groups forces us to reevaluate the previous hour or so of footage and commentary. In retrospect, much of the film depends on the viewer’s ability to sympathize with the soldiers early on so that the peace message shared by the select group of veterans and (presumably) the director becomes easier to digest. To a degree, the sly tactic is effective in the confines of the film. There are no scenes of peacenik rallies or the abhorrent Code Pink-style demonstrations that undoubtedly paint the American anti-war movement as narcissistic and a far cry from its glory days during Vietnam. Instead, we hear a seemingly tempered argument from the people at the front lines of the war, men and a few women who have seen the war, have returned, and are using their right to free speech to speak out against it. The majority of the film uses the full experience narrative as a tool to legitimize these veterans and, by proxy, their message. These aren’t far-off observers sitting in comfortable offices or classrooms determining their opinions on the war from media coverage, Foulkrod means for us to think; these people are the real deal, full-blown soldiers with the scars, physical and emotional, to prove it.

But herein lies the ultimate flaw of the film. Just as Foulkrod relies on our emotional response to pass along her message, the emotions of the veterans focused on in the movie appear to influence their anti-war sentiments. A soldier watches men of his unit kill a civilian they mistakenly believed to be a threat, and he suddenly realizes that war is wrong and he is a murdering tool of the looming military-industrial complex. It sounds great for the script of a Hollywood drama, but the intellectual rationale (assuming there is one) for that soldier’s dissent is exchanged for a cheapened appeal to emotion. This ultimately leaves the thoughtful viewer feeling used by the director’s clever use of camerawork and interview clips.

Ultimately, The Ground Truth works as a documentary in that in conveys an agenda through the words and images of some apparently reputable sources. Nevertheless, the blatant omission of any veteran with an opposite view of the war compels us to question the honesty of Foulkrod’s presentation. We hear from these veterans only after they have begun their activism; their positions as anti-war activists means we must take their claims of atrocious and immoral actions by American servicemen on faith. The preponderance of contrasting testimonial evidence from both veterans and soldiers still on the ground (opinions that are never addressed in the film) should cause us to not take these veterans with an agenda at face value.

Mike Warren is Associate Editor of the Collegiate Network publication, The Vanderbilt Torch. This article was originally featured in the March 2008 issue of The Torch.