Sheepdog, the Movie: A Rare, Nuanced Portrait, of Post-War Emotional Trauma

BY Marc Leepson

You’ll be disappointed if you’re expecting to see a canine in Sheepdog, Steven Grayhm’s hard-hitting new movie that takes an unflinching look at the psychological aftermath of serving in 21st-century wars. And that might be the only disappointing thing about this terrific film.

The enticing title refers to an interpretation of the word popularized by former Army Lt. Col. Dave Grossman in his book On Combat—someone who lives “to protect the flock and confront the wolf.”

There are at least three “sheepdogs” in this stirring, important movie: a blunt but caring small-town cop and former high school hockey coach (Dominic Fumusa); an inexperienced but empathetic VA combat-trauma specialist (Virginia Madsen); and a troubled but kind Vietnam War veteran (Vondie Curtis-Hall). And it’s not a stretch to include the film’s main character as a sheepdog himself, an emotionally damaged post-9/11 veteran (Grayhm) trying to right the wrongs he has inflicted on his wife and two daughters—and others close to him.

Sheepdog — which actor/screenwriter/director Grayhm wrote, directed, and co-produced — burned up the film-festival circuit last year, winning a string of superlatives from critics and taking home more than a dozen top awards. It opened in movie theaters nationwide on January 16.

Grayhm—whose TV, film, and stage credits include the Netflix docudrama series Medal of Honor and the 2004 adaptation of The Five People You Meet in Heaven, along with multiple stints in Hamlet at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art—worked on Sheepdog for more than a dozen years. He spent a good deal of that time interviewing scores of first responders, Gold Star families, mental-health professionals, and—most importantly—young and not-so-young war veterans. He listened and learned how their wartime experiences affected their lives after coming home and how they worked on recovering from the psychic wounds of war.

That homework has paid off in this gritty movie centered on young(ish) Army veteran Calvin Cole (Grayhm), whose uncontrollable anger and substance abuse lead to violence and a court order to seek treatment at the VA. There’s nothing Hollywoodized about Calvin’s life, nothing clichéd, nothing fake. It feels all too real. He’s a mess—and things don’t get better after his father-in-law, Whitney St. Germain (Curtis-Hall), turns up out of the blue after three decades.

Whitney is based on Grayhm’s interviews with many Vietnam War veterans. He exhibits characteristics familiar from other screen portrayals of troubled Vietnam veterans, but there’s no stereotyping here. Grayhm’s script—and Curtis-Hall’s interpretation—give us a fully fleshed-out man trying to cope with the bad hand he was dealt during—and especially after—the war.

Whitney lets loose an angry rant or two about what it was like coming home, including repeating the oft-stated claim that hippies “spat at us at the airport.” It’s an ironclad fact that many Vietnam War veterans faced a shamefully underwhelming homecoming, including being metaphorically spat upon. But the literal “airport spitting” trope is hotly debated; historian Jerry Lembcke and others have found scant contemporary evidence that organized antiwar protesters routinely spat on returning GIs at airports.

Whitney’s commonly exaggerated phrase is a minor irritant in an otherwise nuanced portrait of a veteran fighting long odds to make his life whole again. And what he goes on to say is on the mark: that Vietnam War veterans received “no homecoming parades, no celebrations.”

Grayhm made a smart choice to shoot on location in a small, working-class town in western Massachusetts. The physical setting is a fitting backdrop for Calvin and Whitney’s tribulations. At times, the town looks bleak and depressing—so do both veterans’ lives.

Given the subject matter, it’s entirely fitting that Sheepdog contains more than a few uncomfortable moments. Let’s just say you won’t walk out feeling like you’ve seen a feel-good Tinseltown confection.

That said, Sheepdog is a well-crafted, serious film about post-war emotional trauma—one that handles the subject as well as any movie has. That includes two excellent 1989 films about struggling Vietnam War veterans, Jacknife and In Country, as well as The Best Years of Our Lives, the 1946 multi-Oscar winner about three World War II veterans’ difficult readjustments.

Check out the Sheepdog trailer online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IunslTliq2w.

Photo courtesy Drake Sorey

You can see VVA Veteran Arts Editor Marc Leepson’s interview with Steven Grayhm, who wrote, directed, and stars in Sheepdog, along with the acclaimed actor Vondie Curtis Hall, who co-stars as a struggling Vietnam War veteran in the film, on “Dispatches,” our video interview series.

Check out Episode 44 online at: https://vvaveteran.org/videos/index.html or https://www.facebook.com/reel/1203535368028419

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