In case any viewers are too dense to figure out the theme of this movie, Russell Crowe’s character is kind enough to spell it out twice: “Nobody’s innocent in this shit.” There’s already buzz on IMDB about how the film is “anti-American.” It’s true, it’s very critical of our methods and ethics of warfare, but it certainly isn’t saying anybody else is any better than us. As an example of how it’s an equal-opportunity offender, the main actress of the film, Golshifteh Farahani, is now an exile from Iran for fear of being arrested for playing this part.
Leonardo DiCaprio is a CIA agent working in the Middle East. He’s brilliant and talented, and apparently the only person making any progress in the war on terror. Crowe seems to be in charge of all CIA operations relating to global terrorism. (I can see why Scott wanted him to not look physically fit for this role, but I don’t think he should’ve made the poor guy gain so much extra weight - I think 20 pounds would’ve made the point as well as the 50 he had to put on.) He is completely amoral, willing to do whatever it takes to win. It’s not clear what winning entails, but as far as I could tell, the plan seems to be to keep beating down the terrorists until the Middle East runs out of oil money to keep them going.
A new player, Al-Saleem, has begun terrorist attacks in Europe (why did he have to pick on poor Amsterdam?!), and has threatened to bring them to America next. Leo’s job is to try to track him down and/or stop the attacks. The film is a series of convoluted operations spying on/attacking terrorists and their safe houses throughout the Middle East.
A lot of the action takes place in Amman, Jordan. Leo enlists the head of Jordanian covert ops, Hani Salaam (played by Mark Strong - a serious hottie who reminded me of a young Andy Garcia; I will definitely keep an eye out for him in the future). Hani is only willing to help Leo if he plays by his rules. Leo is fine with that, but Crowe won’t compromise his own agenda or authority, so Leo has to balance his trust and loyalty between the two. And of course, between what they represent - America and the Middle East (the differences between the many Middle Eastern countries are negligible in the movie, so it has a regional identity rather than any national one).
There are plans, there are counter-plans, there are lies and betrayals, people get tortured, people get killed, things blow up (it is a Ridley Scott film, after all). Along the way, Leo falls for a beautiful Iranian nurse (Farahani) who gives him rabies shots. (Dog bites are just one of a multitude of injuries Leo suffers along the way.) Halfway through my friend asked me “Does this movie have a plot?” My response: “No.” The situations in the movie are all meant to illustrate the theme - war is hell, and there are no good guys. Even though it’s obviously set amid current events, it felt more like a theoretical dramatic exercise rather than something that would actually be taking place.
This is an action-filled movie, and despite my first sentence, you do have to pay close attention to follow what’s going on. It was about 15 minutes too long, but for the most part it was fast-paced and held my interest. After a summer filled with, in my opinion, a lot of really good-quality action films, it was a little jarring to see one with such a serious tone. Overall I’d say it’s a good entry in the action/war/spy genre. (Warning, it deserves the R-rating for many scenes of violence and torture.) On the DN scale, I’d pay $5-6 to see it.
Leonardo DiCaprio is a CIA agent working in the Middle East. He’s brilliant and talented, and apparently the only person making any progress in the war on terror. Crowe seems to be in charge of all CIA operations relating to global terrorism. (I can see why Scott wanted him to not look physically fit for this role, but I don’t think he should’ve made the poor guy gain so much extra weight - I think 20 pounds would’ve made the point as well as the 50 he had to put on.) He is completely amoral, willing to do whatever it takes to win. It’s not clear what winning entails, but as far as I could tell, the plan seems to be to keep beating down the terrorists until the Middle East runs out of oil money to keep them going.
A new player, Al-Saleem, has begun terrorist attacks in Europe (why did he have to pick on poor Amsterdam?!), and has threatened to bring them to America next. Leo’s job is to try to track him down and/or stop the attacks. The film is a series of convoluted operations spying on/attacking terrorists and their safe houses throughout the Middle East.
A lot of the action takes place in Amman, Jordan. Leo enlists the head of Jordanian covert ops, Hani Salaam (played by Mark Strong - a serious hottie who reminded me of a young Andy Garcia; I will definitely keep an eye out for him in the future). Hani is only willing to help Leo if he plays by his rules. Leo is fine with that, but Crowe won’t compromise his own agenda or authority, so Leo has to balance his trust and loyalty between the two. And of course, between what they represent - America and the Middle East (the differences between the many Middle Eastern countries are negligible in the movie, so it has a regional identity rather than any national one).
There are plans, there are counter-plans, there are lies and betrayals, people get tortured, people get killed, things blow up (it is a Ridley Scott film, after all). Along the way, Leo falls for a beautiful Iranian nurse (Farahani) who gives him rabies shots. (Dog bites are just one of a multitude of injuries Leo suffers along the way.) Halfway through my friend asked me “Does this movie have a plot?” My response: “No.” The situations in the movie are all meant to illustrate the theme - war is hell, and there are no good guys. Even though it’s obviously set amid current events, it felt more like a theoretical dramatic exercise rather than something that would actually be taking place.
This is an action-filled movie, and despite my first sentence, you do have to pay close attention to follow what’s going on. It was about 15 minutes too long, but for the most part it was fast-paced and held my interest. After a summer filled with, in my opinion, a lot of really good-quality action films, it was a little jarring to see one with such a serious tone. Overall I’d say it’s a good entry in the action/war/spy genre. (Warning, it deserves the R-rating for many scenes of violence and torture.) On the DN scale, I’d pay $5-6 to see it.
I hope Leo's not text messaging as much as in "The Departed". That was so annoying.
ReplyDeleteIs anyone planning to watch that George Bush movie?
That was a great review, Mooshki! I'll probably see it since my guess is it will be the only movie in town, and student discount brings it down to $5.50
ReplyDeleteGreat synopsis there Mooshki. I was very curious about this film and whether or not it would be worth my hard earned $12 or not.
ReplyDeleteI have to be in the mood to watch this subject matter. I'll take your advice and rent it from Netflix. Oh, I gotta check out the hottie Mark Strong too.
thanks for the great review Mooshki (and the hottie alert)! now I know I can wait till dvd
ReplyDeletegreat review, mooshki, thanks. i'll porbably wait until it's out on netflix and then cover my eyes a lot. i'm a weenie.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words, guys! This was a hard one to write because it was so complicated, and I wasn't sure how I felt about the movie afterward.
ReplyDelete"student discount brings it down to $5.50"
Ha! So it fits just right into my recommendation, that's pretty funny. And don't worry, Hani will be worth every single penny. (It was funny, it kept sounding like Leo was calling him "Honey," and I didn't blame him. :) )
Rebecca, don't worry, no texting. One of the points of the movie is that anything sent electronically can be monitored. (There were a couple of times I felt like they'd switched reels and we were watching "Eagle Eye.")
Another interesting thing - they were back to two security guards and a cursory bag check. I am now 100% sure that they were afraid of interracial violence at the "Lakeview Terrace" screening.
Molly, I also cover my eyes during the bad parts. When I saw "Hannibal," I think I watched about 10 minutes of the movie total.
ReplyDeleteomg, me too, moooshki. good violence is wasted on me...lol.
ReplyDeleteMooshki--you get an AAAAA+++++ for
ReplyDeletethat teriffic review--but tell me--when do you have time to go to the movies?
Mark Strong is that particular actor who always catches the eye, no matter how bad the actual film, or how good those around him may be. I'd pay money to watch him open an envelope, he's that good.
ReplyDeleteTry and catch him as Archie in Rocknrolla, or indulging in torture in Syriana.
Ha, Adrian, it ain't easy. Monday night I had to beg my brother to walk and hang out with my dog so I could go to this. :)
ReplyDeleteK, I was going to link to some pictures of him, but none of them do him justice. I think it's partly his charisma and the way he moves that makes him so hot.
mookshi, yeh, he's got that something something going on alright! I saw him coming out of the gym near my work in The City one day, but he's so tall and I'm so short, I couldn't catch up with him to say hello..
ReplyDeleteHis TV stuff is also aweseome - came to attention in UK with Daniel Craig in Our Friends in the North, but my favorites with him in are The Long Firm (he plays a gay gangster called Harry and is obscenely brilliant in the role); and The Jury (with Gerard Butler) where he plays a jealous psycho husband to Helen McCrory (another blindingly good, underrated UK actress)
Ha, Moriarty at Ain't it Cool News agreed with me:
ReplyDelete"There’s one character that stands out, and if they wanted to make movies about him, that would have been a fascinating and worthwhile choice. Mark Strong’s work as Hani, head of Jordanian Intelligence, is so impressive that I would imagine you’ll see him show up in approximately 134 films produced between 2010 and 2012. He’s “that guy,” starting now."