Sort of a mixture between 12 STRONG and LONE SURVIVOR, this movie benefits from strong performances, good action sequences, and a surprisingly gripping narrative. Guy Ritchie's typical snazzy directorial touches feel largely absent here as he directs it in a more standard less-distracting way, for better or worse. Personally I enjoyed the movie much more than I have any movie in years and I recognize that, outside of historical films, Hollywood has been in a terrible nadir the past very years.
It takes a while for this film to finally decide what it's about, but once it zeroes in on a main story it's hard to pull your eyes away. I was afraid things were going to get extremely depressing or political but it never goes too far, maintaining a pretty impressive balance all throughout. There's a fair bit of criticism of United States hypocrisy and bureaucratic red tape, a stance that feels notable to me in this era of constant "trust the government" messaging in films. However we do need to keep in mind that, within the film, it's to further the message of making immigration easier for certain people, which may rile up some audiences. But then again, the visa system as presented in this movie acts as a sort of carrot with which to draw in people to help the United States fight terrorism in a foreign country and only granted after putting themselves in danger, so one could argue it is something of a merit-based system.
Dar Salim, an actor who I had never noticed before, gives an incredible amount of heart in what may be the performance of the year (and it's only May). While he looks like a combination of Dave Bautista and Joe Rogan, he brings an incredible amount of depth to his character and delivery. My sympathy for him grew over the course of the film, so the film managed the manipulation well. The woman who they got to play his wife, in my opinion, is just a little too beautiful to be believable as a refugee mother in a wartorn country. In every shot she has perfect hair, perfect teeth, and perfect makeup, even while the two are fleeing from the Taliban with explosions going off all around them.
Gyllenhall the star gets in a few of his now characteristic monologues but he's not as much of a focus in the film as I would have expected. While the film is probably 5-10 minutes overlong and a touch unrealistic in terms of the action scenes, it never made me personally feel alienated or bored, and I'm pretty picky when it comes to such things. So far, this is the biggest positive surprise of the year.
It takes a while for this film to finally decide what it's about, but once it zeroes in on a main story it's hard to pull your eyes away. I was afraid things were going to get extremely depressing or political but it never goes too far, maintaining a pretty impressive balance all throughout. There's a fair bit of criticism of United States hypocrisy and bureaucratic red tape, a stance that feels notable to me in this era of constant "trust the government" messaging in films. However we do need to keep in mind that, within the film, it's to further the message of making immigration easier for certain people, which may rile up some audiences. But then again, the visa system as presented in this movie acts as a sort of carrot with which to draw in people to help the United States fight terrorism in a foreign country and only granted after putting themselves in danger, so one could argue it is something of a merit-based system.
Dar Salim, an actor who I had never noticed before, gives an incredible amount of heart in what may be the performance of the year (and it's only May). While he looks like a combination of Dave Bautista and Joe Rogan, he brings an incredible amount of depth to his character and delivery. My sympathy for him grew over the course of the film, so the film managed the manipulation well. The woman who they got to play his wife, in my opinion, is just a little too beautiful to be believable as a refugee mother in a wartorn country. In every shot she has perfect hair, perfect teeth, and perfect makeup, even while the two are fleeing from the Taliban with explosions going off all around them.
Gyllenhall the star gets in a few of his now characteristic monologues but he's not as much of a focus in the film as I would have expected. While the film is probably 5-10 minutes overlong and a touch unrealistic in terms of the action scenes, it never made me personally feel alienated or bored, and I'm pretty picky when it comes to such things. So far, this is the biggest positive surprise of the year.