So who is Billy Lynn, and what is a halftime walk, and why is it long? These questions and a few others are tentatively answered in Ang Lee‘s film adaptation of Ben Fountain’s 2012 novel about an Iraq War veteran named Billy Lynn (newcomer Joe Alwyn) who participates in a grueling Thanksgiving Day halftime performance after coming home from battle in 2004.

Lee has shot “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” at a rate of 120 frames per second with a resolution of 4K in 3D. The always well-meaning Lee and his collaborators have been quoted as saying that this new process is meant to be a step forward when it comes to realism on screen, but the result of their experiment is anything but realistic.

In most of the scenes in “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” a figure will stand in the foreground of the frame and the background will be out of focus, and the foregrounded figure is so super-clear that they look like a cut-out with scissors from a glossy magazine. There have been some outstanding examples in recent years of what can be accomplished with immersive 3D imagery, but the extra-clarity 3D in this Lee movie often looks weirdly like something shot on videotape in the 1980s.

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What this process means for the actors is that every pore on their face is highlighted as well as wrinkles and blemishes and yellow teeth that would likely not be noticeable otherwise. (This process is surely the nightmare of a performer with any standard degree of physical vanity.) Does this 120 frame rate/4K resolution technique heighten what we can see on a human face, which is what Lee is hoping for? It does seem to give an extra emotional oomph to the close-ups of Kristen Stewart, who plays Billy’s loving sister, but this exaggerated scrutiny totally exposes the all-surface performance of Steve Martin, who is miscast as a villainous tycoon.

How exactly is this new frame rate supposed to look like any sort of progress if the background of a shot is almost always out of focus? The only thing this process in its current state might be good for are shots that are supposed to be from the subjective viewpoint of a character who is losing touch with reality, which is the exact opposite of what Lee intends it for here. Cinematographer Gregg Toland’s experiments with deep focus from 75 years ago feel more radical than anything in “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” and any old school split diopter shot with both background and foreground figures in sharp focus might knock any of the images in this movie right off the screen.

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A bolder director than Lee might have made a clearer and even blunter connection between American warfare and the American entertainment at the halftime show, but this film is structured with a before-and-after dynamic so that the scenes where Billy Lynn and his fellow soldiers stand behind Destiny’s Child at the halftime show feel far more nerve-wracking and ominous than the unconvincing war scenes, and this deliberate imbalance doesn’t pay off dramatically in any discernible way.

On a narrative level, “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” is as awkward and half-hearted as its title. Lee demonstrates absolutely no understanding of how the soldiers could or should relate to each other as a team, and the dialogue rhythms are especially off when they try to be funny with each other. The scenes where Billy romances a cheerleader named Faison (Makenzie Leigh, “James White”) are especially disastrous, as if both of them were stilted beings from some other planet trying to relate to each other.

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Of all the actors here, only Stewart behaves as if she is in a serious film. Her character has been injured and scarred in a car accident, and the marks on her face and on her torso have been convincingly applied so that they stand up to the test of Lee’s new frame-rate process. Perhaps this process is only in its early stages and might improve over time, but for now it does not feel ready for anything but TV soap operas starring actors with the clearest and smoothest possible skin.

“Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” winds up being a wearying experience, not because of its emotional content but because of its lack of cohesion and its ultimate collapse into gross and unearned sentimentality. The impression this movie leaves is one of hapless and anxious super-clear cut-outs interacting with either blurred co-players or blurred backgrounds that look less like life and more like near-sightedness.

All 15 EGOT Winners, From Audrey Hepburn to John Legend (Photos)

Richard Rodgers, composer (1902-1979)
Emmy: Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composed, "Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years" (1962)
Grammy: Best Show Album, "The Sound of Music" (1960); Best Original Cast Show Album, "No Strings" (1962)
Oscar: Best Song, "It Might As Well Be Spring" from "State Fair" (1945)
Tony: three for "South Pacific" (1950); one each for "The King and I" (1952), "The Sound of Music" (1960) and "No Strings" (1962)
Helen Hayes, actress (1900 - 1993)
Emmy: Best Actress, "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars: Not a Chance" (1953)
Grammy: Best Spoken Word Recording, "Great American Documents" (1977)
Oscar: Best Actress, "The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1932); Best Supporting Actress, "Airport" (1970)
Tony: Best Actress in a Drama, "Happy Birthday" (1947); Best Actress in a Drama, "Time Remembered" (1958)
Rita Moreno, actress (1931 -)
Emmy: Supporting Actress, Variety or Music, "The Muppet Show" (1977); Lead Actress for Single Appearance in a Comedy or Drama, "The Rockford Files" (1978)
Grammy: Best Recording for Children, "The Electric Compan" (1972)
Oscar: Best Supporting Actress, "West Side Story" (1961)
Tony: Best Supporting Actress in a Play, "The Ritz" (1975)
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John Gielgud, actor (1904 - 2000)
Emmy: Best Actor in a Miniseries or Special, "Summer's Lease (1991)
Grammy: Best Spoken World Album, "Ages of Man" (1979)
Oscar: Best Supporting Actor, "Arthur" (1981)
Tony: Outstanding Foreign Company, "The Importance of Being Earnest" (1948); Best Director of a Drama, "Big Fish, Little Fish" (1961)
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Audrey Hepburn, actress (1929 - 1993)
Emmy: Best Individual Achievement, Informational Programming, "Gardens of the World With Audrey Hepburn" (1993)
Grammy: Best Spoken Word Album for Children, "Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales" (1994)
Oscar: Best Actress, "Roman Holiday" (1953)
Tony: Best Actress in a Drama, "Ondine" (1954)
Marvin Hamlisch, composer (1944–2012)
Emmy: Four awards, two for work on "Barbra: The Concert" (1995) and one each for "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies" (1999) and "Timeless: Live in Concert" (2001)
Grammy: Four awards in 1974, including Best New Artist, Song of the Year ("The Way We Were"), Best Album of the Original Score ("The Way We Were") and Best Pop Instrumental Performance ("The Entertainer")
Oscar: Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Song, "The Way We Were" (1973) and Best Adapted Score, "The Sting" (1973)
Tony: Best Musical Score, "A Chorus Line" (1976)
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Jonathan Tunick, music director and composer (1938 - )
Emmy: Music Direction, "Night of 100 Stars" (1982)
Grammy: Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals, Cleo Laine's "No One Is Alone" (1988)
Oscar: Best Adapted Score, "A Little Night Music" (1977)
Tony: Best Orchestrations, "Titanic" (1977)
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Mel Brooks, performer, writer and director (1926 - )
Emmy: Best Writing in Variety, "The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris Special" (1967); three awards for Best Guest Actor in a Comedy, "Mad About You" (1997-99)
Grammy: Best Spoken Comedy Album, "The 2000 Year Old Man in the Year 2000" (1998); Best Long-Form Music Video, "Recording 'The Producers'" (2002); Best Musical Show Album, "The Producers" (2002)
Oscar: Best Original Screenplay, "The Producers" (1968)
Tony: Best Musical, Original Score and Book of a Musical, "The Producers" (2001)
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Mike Nichols, performer, director and producer (1931 - 2014)
Emmy: Best Director of Miniseries, Movie or Special, "Wit" (2001); Best Made for Television Movie, "Wit" (2001); Best Directing of Miniseries, Movie or Special, "Angels in America" (2004); Best Miniseries, "Angels in America" (2004)
Grammy: Best Comedy Performance, "An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May" (1961)
Oscar: Best Director, "The Graduate" (1967)
Tony: Best Director of a Play, "Barefoot in the Park" (1964), "Luv" and "The Odd Couple" (1965), "Plaza Suite" (1968), "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" (1972), "The Real Thing" (1984), "Death of a Salesman" (2012); Best Musical, "Annie" (1977); Best Play, "The Real Thing" (1984); Best Director of a Musical, "Monty Python's Spamalot" (2005)
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Whoopi Goldberg, performer and producer (1955 - )
Emmy: Best Special Class Special, "Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel" (2002); Best Talk Show Host, "The View" (2009)
Grammy: Best Comedy Recording, "Whoopi Goldberg: Original Broadway Show Recording" (1985)
Oscar: Best Supporting Actress, "Ghost" (1990)
Tony: Best Musical (producing), "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (2002)

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Scott Rudin, producer (1958 - )
Emmy: Best Children's Program, "He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin'" (1984)
Grammy: Best Musical Theater Album, "The Book of Mormon" (2012)
Oscar: Best Picture, "No Country for Old Men" (2007)
Tony: 12 awards, for producing musicals "Passion" (1994) and "The Book of Mormon" (2012) and the plays "Copenhagen" (2000), "Doubt" (2005), "The History Boys" (2006), "God of Carnage" (2009), "Fences" (2010), "Death of a Salesman" (2012), "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" (2015), "Skylight" (2015), "The Humans" (2016) and "A View From the Bridge" (2016)

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Robert Lopez, composer (1975 - )
Emmy: Best Music Direction and Composition, "Wonder Pets" (2008, 2010)
Grammy: Best Musical Theater Album, "The Book of Mormon" (2012); Best Compilation Soundtrack, "Frozen" (2015), Best Song for Visual Media, "Let It Go" from "Frozen" (2015)
Oscar: Best Original Song, "Let It Go" from "Frozen" (2014)
Tony: Best Score, "Avenue Q" (2004); Best Score and Best Book of a Musical, "The Book of Mormon" (2011)
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John Legend, songwriter and producer (1978-)

Emmy: Outstanding Live Variety Special, "Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert"

Grammy: Best New Artist (2005); Best R&B Album, "Get Lifted" (2005); Best R&B Vocal, "Ordinary People" (2005); Best Male R&B Vocal, "Heaven" (2006); Best R&B Duo or Group, "Family Affair" (2006); Best R&B Vocal or Group, "Stay With Me by the Sea" (2008); Best R&B Album, "Wake Up!" (2010); Best R&B Song, "Shine" (2010); Best R&B Vocal, "Hang On in There" (2010); Best Song Written for Visual Medium, "Glory" (2015)

Oscar: Best Original Song, "Glory" from "Selma (2014)

Tony: Producer of Best Play Revival, "August Wilson's Jitney" (2017)
Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer and producer (1948-)

Emmy: Outstanding Live Variety Special, "Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert"

Grammy: Best Cast Album, "Evita" (1980); Best Cast Album, "Cats" (1983); Best Contemporary Composition, "Lloyd Webber: Requiem" (1985)

Oscar: Best Original Song, "You Must Love Me" from "Evita" (1996)

Tony: Best Score, "Evita" (1980); Best Score, "Cats" (1983); Best Score, "Sunset Boulevard" (1995)
Tim Rice, lyricist and producer (1944-)

Emmy: Outstanding Live Variety Special, "Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert"

Grammy: Best Cast Album, "Evita" (1980); Song of the Year and Song for Film or TV, "A Whole New World" (1993); Best Album for Children, "Aladdin" (1993); Best Cast Album, "Aida" (2000)

Oscar: Best Original Song, "A Whole New World" from "Aladdin" (1992); "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from "The Lion King" (1994); "You Must Love Me" from "Evita" (1996)

Tony: Best Book and Best Score, "Evita" (1980); Best Score, "Aida" (2000)