One of the most fascinating stories of World War II – that of Navajo-Americans who fought as radio men, using their native language as an impenetrable code – falls prey to the White Man Syndrome. Windtalkers spends more time following Nicolas Cage’s anguished sergeant through a series of war-film cliches than the journey of Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach), a Navajo who eagerly enlists in the military and becomes the sergeant’s charge. There’s a great movie to be made about the Navajos who fought in WWII, but Windtalkers would rather be a marketable one.
