The first thing filmmaker John Sullivan thought after reading the script for "Fort Bliss" was that he had never read anything better. Its main character, Maggie Swann, is a decorated Army medic who is struggling — mostly failing — to emotionally reconnect with her young son after a grim, 15-month deployment to Afghanistan.

Sullivan’s next thought was that the Pentagon would never approve a story like this. For Maggie, being a loving mother is harder than removing live ammunition from a bleeding soldier.

"It doesn’t pull any punches about what it is like to be a female in the military," said the 45-year-old Sullivan, a producer and actor who left Los Angeles for Pupukea six years ago, largely so he could surf on Oahu’s North Shore.

"Maggie has to decide if she is a better soldier or a better mother," he said. "She has to woo the affections of her son. And as she rekindles the bonds with her son, the Army reassigns her to a deployment. It really brings up the question of how to balance career and family, especially as a single parent in the military."

But the reaction to "Fort Bliss," which is playing locally at Consolidated Theatres’ Pearlridge West, has drawn praise from active-duty personnel, veterans and even the secretary of defense.

"I think it is an interesting notion that this little engine that could, this film, has touched some pretty high-level folks as much as it has touched the hearts of the rank and file, active duty and retired veterans," Sullivan said. "It’s had tremendous response and tremendous resonance."

"Fort Bliss" was named best narrative feature at the GI Film Festival in May, was shown to 200 high-level military officers and members of Congress at Arlington National Cemetery, and was a hit when it was shown in Los Angeles to 600 military veterans who work in the film and television industry.

During a two-week run in Washington, D.C., in September, Sullivan was surprised to learn that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and his wife were in the audience. Hagel, a Vietnam War veteran with two Purple Hearts, even stayed for the Q-and-A session that followed and later told Sullivan that he liked the film.

Most of the audience had no idea that Hagel was there, and the secretary got an unfiltered look at what his military families experience.

"There were many veterans — and female veterans — in the audience who during the question-and-answer session would compliment the movie and say it really was a very real depiction of their life," Sullivan said.

The film stars Michelle Monaghan as Maggie. The actress, who was seen most recently as the wife of Woody Harrelson’s character in HBO’s "True Detective," found a breakthrough role in "Fort Bliss," which puts her front and center.

Monaghan loved the story by Claudia Myers, a Washington, D.C.-based filmmaker who has made documentaries for the military. Myers also directed "Fort Bliss."

"The script was very good and actors generally look for good writing because there is not that much of it," Sullivan said. "And on top of that, we are used to seeing Michelle playing the wife or the girlfriend of someone in a big-budget film.

"Actors are always looking for things that can show their chops and focus the movie on them."

But Sullivan said Monaghan was moved by the message behind the film — a message driven by numbers, he said. More than 200,000 women serve in the military, which is about 15 percent of all service personnel. Of that number, about 40 percent are mothers.

"This isn’t some one-in-a-million story," Sullivan said. "It’s a lot of stories."

And that’s a wrap. …

Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.