‘THE Way We Get By” is an often poignant profile of three old people who work as airport greeters for troops returning from and departing to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The airport in Bangor, Maine, is a main transit point for soldiers and Marines who get hugs and pep talks from the three senior citizens. The film follows this trio as they take their medicines, feed their pets and contemplate the corrosion of age. One says, tearfully, that he fears he has outlived his usefulness, and that providing smiles for the troops gives him his only sense of purpose.
Although it has affecting moments, the film can’t quite decide whether it’s about aging or about the effects of war on the home front, and its modest scale is more appropriate for TV than the big screen.
Running time: 84 minutes. Not rated (adult situations). At the IFC Center, Sixth Avenue and Third Street.