Tag: middle east

KANDAHAR (2023) – Review

So, where does it say that only the big studio blockbusters can rattle the multiplex over the first big holiday weekend of the Summer cinema season? Certainly, there’s a bit of room away from the Furious fellas’ and the MCU. That’s what this flick is hoping for as Gerard Butler continues his quest to be the lower-tier action star, much like the Cannon crew did in the “go-go” 1980s (after Arnold and Sly there was Chuck and Claude). For this thiller-diller we travel to a real “hot spot” (in more ways than one) for a desert tale of undercover capers and narrow escapes. You see, everyone’s after Mr. B, so he’s got to somehow make it outta’ there via KANDAHAR. Heads up for lotsa’ sand and sweat!

It all does begin in the desert of Iran as a foreign tech crew is upgrading the area to high-speed internet. In the “hole”, exposing the wires is Tom Harris (Butler). His escorts are growing impatient as he tinkers, snips, and installs a special battery-sized device. Yes, he and his partner are “black ops” out to destroy Iran’s hidden, not-so-secret nuclear reactor. Soon the pair are back in town, preparing to leave. Meanwhile, a plucky news network reporter (Nina Toussaint-White) gets a call from her unknown “source” that US/British forces are there to wreck the new facility. Naturally, her cell phone is hacked by Iranian intelligence. Meanwhile, an agent deep, deep undercover (Travel Fimmel), picks up a translator (Navid Negahban) from the airport and sends him to Tom. But before they can connect, the faces of Tom and his cohort are splattered all over the local media. A Pakistan “freelancer”, Kahil (Ali Fazal) meets with some operatives. It seems that the Iranians want to capture Tom alive for a big public display. But not if Kahil grabs him first in order to auction him to the highest bidder (perhaps Isis). Tom and the translator meet just as his team overseas tells him that they’re “cutting him loose”. But wait, there’s a British transport touching down very briefly in a secret airfield about 400 miles away. The trouble is, the translator’s no soldier. Nonetheless, the two have to dodge multiple enemies and get on that plane or else it’s a worldwide broadcast execution.

Butler certainly has his “man of action” persona down pat (has it been 17 years since 300), and helps the story run smoothly from one stunt set piece to the next. There’s also a brief subplot about his marriage crumbling, which gives him an extra interest in surviving, so he can get to his daughter’s graduation(at several points he gazes at the greeting card he bought at the airport). It’s a plus that he’s playing a former MI-6 agent which allows his natural accent to flow forward. Negahban conveys a sense of everyman panic as Tom thrusts him into deadly danger (for which he’s ill-prepared). He too is a family guy, though he’s haunted by the demise of his son by radical forces. Some much-needed energy is injected into the standard thriller conventions by the off-kilter performance of Fazal, the motorcycle-riding mastermind who appears to embrace the new religious fanatics while enjoying the “infidel’s culture”, as he swipes through dating apps on his cell phone…while vaping. Fimmel has thoroughly embraced the faith in his adopted land, which makes him the “wild card”, as most of his allies aren’t sure if he’s 100% “with the program”.

The big chases and explosions are directed by frequent Butler collaborator Ric Roman Waugh, who certainly has his hands full here what with the different hunters tracking down Tom. There’s a nice claustrophobic feel to a chase during a dusty village’s traffic jam. Plus a battle in a pitch-black canyon adds lots of tension as we view this alien-like landscape through Tom’s night-vision goggles. But Waugh is often tripped by the underdeveloped subplots in the script. For a time we follow the double life of an Iranian officer, perhaps to paint him as a sympathetic family man, but nothing comes of it, ditto for the translator’s search for his sister. As the story chugs along, it feels like a less compelling, but louder variation of the superior desert war film from a month or so ago, GUY RITCHIE’S THE COVENANT. It’s a tough act to follow, but the ridiculous final battle with cartoon-like explosions and a charge right out of a late-show Western do this story no favors. The locations in Saudi Arabia give it an authentic look and feel, but it’s not enough to redeem this carnage-filled trek to KANDAHAR.

1.5 Out of 4

KANDAHAR is now playing in select theatres

PROFILE (2018) – Review

In this new “ripped from the headlines” thriller, an intrepid reporter goes deep, deep undercover to get to the heart of a controversial story. Oh, and there are no car chases or meetings in dark alleyways. But there is the “dark web”. That’s because, in the most modern take on the “get the truth out there” suspense saga, the heroine never really leaves her modest London “flat”. She’s online, and we’re watching her on her very own computer desktop as she bounces from social media sites to search engines to video “tele-chats”. Still, the danger is very real, along with the truly disturbing subject. And the whole thing truly hinges on the believability of the reporter’s fictitious PROFILE.

The year is 2014. As the monitor screen “fires up”, we hear the “key clicks” entering a search request for news stories concerning women from the US and Europe who have been recruited online to become part of the Middle Eastern terrorist group known as Isis. We soon learn, via a “Skype” call with her boyfriend Matt (Morgan Watkins), that this is the computer of an ambitious freelance London-based journalist Amy (Valene Kane). Later she tries to put the “squeeze” on her editor Vicky (Christine Adams) for another advance (we’re not sure if this is for the online site of a print or broadcast news outlet). Ah, but the budget is tight, so Amy puts the “bite” on her rich, flighty pal Kathy (Emma Carer) in order to pay the rent. All this is happening as Amy creates a new online identity for herself: an aimless, lonely 20-year-old named Melody. First, she needs a “catfish” Facebook profile, with lots of links to stories and videos about the conflict in the world’s “hotspot”. And it’s not too long before she gets a “bite”, from the source of several of those borrowed posts, an Isis soldier in Syria named Bilel (Shazad Latif). Lots of “instant message” flirtations are followed up by requests for a “Skype” chat. Amy/Melody gets ready for their long-distance “hook-up” by cruising the search engines for tips on everything from how to properly wear the hijab to using makeup to take off “years” (Amy’s closer to 30 than 20). Finally, with Vicky’s IT guy Lou (Amir Rahimzadeh) listening in, the two meet “screen to screen”. Amy is at first amused by the affable charismatic Bilel (“He’s just a silly boy”) as he lays on the charm while questioning her commitment to “the cause”. But as the home side pressures mount, with Matt finding a home they can share to Vicky’s strict deadline (“You’ve got to get him to tell you how he transports the girls”), the unthinkable seems to occur: Amy, along with Melody, is falling for the dark-eyed “devil”. Could she turn her back on her beau and career in order to bask in Bilel’s smile and promises of love and wealth?

The whole story hinges on the actor “behind the keyboard”, so the producers wisely chose the compelling, and talented Kane to be our “cyber-guide”. Her Amy seems more than a little aimless, drinking and toking as Matt pleads with her to join him in domestic bliss. Luckily this assignment gives her a purpose, and through her eyes on that monitor, we see her rush of excitement as she walks the twisty online tightrope. She’s a bit of a danger “junkie”, though she still gets into a panic trying to quickly grasp the tech tidbits as Bilel keeps up his pursuit. And it’s in those eyes where we see her teeter, then plummet down the “rabbit hole”. But waiting to catch her is the exotic Bilel, reminding us a bit of the allure of Valentino’s sheik for the 21st century. He promises romance, often appearing to be a smitten schoolboy, while proudly displaying his tools of death and bragging of his killing skills, even while feeding a kitten. He’s the “dream lover” counterpart to the grounded Watkins, whose Matt tries to understand his fiance’s indifference as he dutifully maps out a budget (sensible but so dull). Adams, perhaps best known as the matriarch of the powerful Pierce family on TV’s “Black Lightning”, is a terrific tough boss, putting a modern “spin’ on the “Perry White” persona. There’s also great support from Rahimzadeh as the rattled and worried tech wizard and Cater as the ditzy BFF who loves to live dangerously, though vicariously through Amy.


This intimate tale seems quite a change of pace for director Timur Bekmambetov, who is perhaps best known for fast-paced explosive fantasy flicks (ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER is on his resume’). And somehow he retains much of that frenetic energy, as the multiple “tabs” all seem to pop in to nearly drawn Amy in distraction. It helps that the script provides an easily accessible roadmap (Timur along with Britt Poulton and Olga Kharina adapted the novel by Anna Erelle “In the Skin of a Jihadist”). And though several other films have used the computer screen as a movie screen idea (thrillers including SEARCHING with John Cho), this somehow feels fresh, perhaps due to the strong “inspired by true events” story. The suspense is carried along by the complex central character. Amy is no “one-note” noble hero, but rather a conflicted seeker of truth whose “real life’ helps makes her a “ripe” target for silky, cyber-seduction. While many other “potboilers” run out of steam by the third act, this one delivers a real surprising and shocking finale. To be honest, I was dreading this once I knew of its “desktop” format, but somehow I was drawn as the tumbling tabs ratcheted the tension. Utilizing (fairly) modern tech to tell a very human story, PROFILE is a powerhouse.


3.5 out of 4


PROFILE opens in select theatres on Friday, May 14, 2021

BEIRUT – Review

Jon Hamm (foreground) and Rosamund Pike, in BEIRUT. Photo courtesy of Bleeker Street.

Jon Hamm finally gets the leading man role he has long deserved, in the Middle East-set thriller BEIRUT. It should have happened long ago for the former St. Louisan, based on his unforgettable turn in MAD MEN, if nothing else.

Hamm is excellent as Mason Skiles, a one-time U.S diplomat stationed in Lebanon whose life was upended by tragedy but is reluctantly pulled back into service to negotiate the release of his former colleague and best friend Cal Riley (Mark Pellegrino) who is being held hostage by Palestinian terrorists. Hamm’s strong performance is the primary reason to see this thriller, which does not finish as strong as it starts. Still, Hamm is good enough to make the film still worth seeing.

BEIRUT opens in a peaceful, idyllic Beirut in 1972, where skilled diplomat Mason Skiles (Hamm) is working the room of a party he and his wife are hosting. The party is barely underway when his friend Cal (Mark Pellegrino), an embassy staffer and covert CIA operative, arrives with disturbing news that concerns Karim (Yoau Saian Rosenberg), the 13-year-old Lebanese orphan the couple have virtually adopted. Events suddenly take a violent turn and end in tragedy for Skiles.

A decade later, Skiles has left the diplomatic service and is working as a union negotiator, when he is not drinking himself into oblivion. Nonetheless, the CIA arrives to press him into service again, to negotiate the release of his old friend Cal, who has been kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists hoping to trade him for one of their leaders. Skiles’ particular skill set is needed to win Cal’s freedom.

Skiles returns to a very different Beirut, one at war and in rubble. Briefed by embassy official Donald Gaines (Dean Norris) and assigned to work with CIA operative Sandy Crowder (Rosamund Pike), Skiles has to work through his own demons while trying to save his friend.

Hamm is excellent in this film, and the main reason to see the film. The film is directed by Brad Anderson with a script by writer-producer Tony Gilroy. Gilroy wrote the script for the BOURNE IDENTITY and MICHAEL CLAYTON. Although this is a spy thriller, it feels closer to MICHAEL CLAYTON, with a shadowy world of intrigue, more a John LeCarre spy novel than a Bourne action spy thriller.

Hamm creates a complex character, dealing with a lot of emotional baggage and bad history while applying his skills as a negotiator to the task for which he has been pressed into service. All the emotional connection the audience feels is centered on this character. None of the rest of the cast get the chance to develop the same depth to their characters or get the same resonance with viewers.

Hamm is excellent in this twisty spy thriller, but one wished the film itself was better. BEIRUT is so busy being twisty that it ties itself into knots, Gordian ones. While Hamm delivers the goods, one wishes the film he was in was as good has he is. After a promising start, the thriller seems to lose some steam once it returns to war-torn Lebanon. We see the devastated city and the heartbreaking impact that has on Skiles but while we get a sense of its chaos, there is little on the issues or human drama at play in the rubble. The problem is that BEIRUT raises issues in the political fraught Middle East but then only touches gingerly on them. The Palestinian, Lebanese and Israeli characters are all two-dimensional, something that has caused some offense, and the conflict serves mostly as just backdrop for Skiles’ personal journey.

Which is a shame, since there is much to say about the region, its conflicts and U.S. policy, besides being rich ground for complex, thoughtful political thrillers. There was so much more that could have been said in BEIRUT, but Jon Hamm is a strong enough actor to make the thriller work.

BEIRUT opens Wednesday, April 11, at Plaza Frontenac.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

WHERE DO WE GO NOW? – The Review

It’s always an added pleasure when a film throws you a curve ball and catches you be surprise. I went into WHERE DO WE GO NOW? only knowing that it was a foreign film. When it began, the  film makers dissolved in on a desolate, barren, rocky landscape. A group of black-clad women walked in unison toward the camera. Each were carrying a framed photo. Okay, here’s another movie about the troubles in the Middle East. I’d lost track off all the films I had seen last year concerning the conflicts and tragedies. And then the women began to bow and lean back, almost as one. Are they… dancing? A bit later two characters exchanged longing glances… and began singing! Well, how about that? This is a musical. A musical about religious conflict in Lebanon. As John Cleese used to say, “And now for something completely different…”

In many sequences, WHERE DO WE GO NOW? is indeed a musical comedy. It’s set in a very remote village, almost inaccessible because of a dangerous bridge over a steep gorge. Television reception is only available on the town’s highest point with endless yards of extension cords. The other link to the outside world is two teenage entrepreneurs who venture to nearby cities on a scooter with a small trailer hitch in order to get supplies via purchase and trade. Anytime the boys bring back a newspaper, the women read them quickly then burn them. Seems the village is almost a 50/50 split between Muslims and Christians. The ladies, headed by the young, widowed mother who owns the cafe (played by co-writer and director Nadine Labaki), want to keep the news about religious conflicts and battles hidden from the menfolk (they’re barely getting along as it is). With the help of the two church leaders, the women try to keep the peace, even arranging to have a  busload of Russian exotic dancers break down and have to stay in the town while their transport is fixed. Later when outside forces claim one of the villagers, the women take drastic steps to prevent a possible bloodbath.

Sounds like a pretty serious backdrop for music numbers. For the most part it is, although most of the problems boil down to one thing: the women can keep their cool and work together to prevent the violent, childish men from destroying everything. The guys are little balls of anger or human nitro and ancient dynamite sticks ready to explode at the slightest vibrations. Like those unstable items, they have too be kept in the dark. It’s reminiscent of classic cartoon shorts: the cat’s gotta’ keep quiet so the fearsome bulldog doesn’t wake up and bash him. In this way the film veers into sitcom territory. And the final solution the ladies cook up to avoid all-out work seems flippant and rings  completely false. Plus none of the tunes are real showstoppers (perhaps they work better in the native language). After an interesting set-up, WHERE DO WE GO NOW? reduces complex issues into a cliched battle of the sexes (woman smart and calm, men dumb and violent). Don’t hold your breath for the Broadway stage adaptation.

Overall Rating: 2 stars out of 5

INCENDIES – The Review

Considering the constant news coverage of conflicts in the Middle East it’s no wonder that several months after the release of MIRAL we’re seeing another family drama set in that region- INCENDIES directed by Denis Villeneuve based on the play by Wajdi Mouawad. Like the earlier film , this centers on a woman caught up in these clashes , but this time her story is part of a mystery that is slowly revealed.

After opening scenes of young men having their heads sheared, the action shifts to modern day Quebec. In the office of a notary, Jean Lebel, he meets with the twins of his late assistant, Nawal Marwan- Jeanne and Simon- to read her last will. Seems before her estate can be released to them, she must deliver a sealed envelope to their father, and he must do the same with their brother. This comes as a shock to the twins as their mother had never spoken of the existence of either. Simon wishes to ignore this request as he believed that his mother had lost he mind. Jeanne, a mathematician, is determined to follow her wishes and after finding some photos and papers in their mother’s home, travels to the Middle East in search of her father. The film flashes back to teenage Nawal attempting to run away with her boyfriend. They are stopped by her brothers who shoot the “refugee”. Before they can execute her, their grandmother arrives. Nawal is pregnant. As soon as she gives birth, the grandmother whisks the baby away to an orphanage. Soon, Nawal is sent away. With each part of her story, Jeanne travels the same steps as she sometimes encounters hostility from people who knewof her mother. Finally someone recognizes the background of the only photo Jeanne has of her young mother-she is at a woman’s prison. We learn that young Nawal is part of the region’s unrest. She witnesses a bus massacre, is taken in and trained as an assassin by the rebels, and after her mission she is jailed. There, behind bars, she becomes known as “the woman who sings” in defiance of the cruel, torturing guards. As Jeanne learns more she finally convinces brother Simon to join her along with Jean. Can the three of them navigate through the different political factions and deliver the envelopes?

Villeneuve is able to navigate this complex film confidently, so we can follow the storiesof Nawal’s life and Jeanne’s search. The shift from the windy, arid sands to chilly city streets can be abrupt at times. Like MIRAL this film uses bright big red titles to indicate chapter headings with city and character names. The acting is very good by all the principals especially Jean and the twins. Nawal’s character is the more complex as she hides her past from her grown children. I won’t spoil the big reveal of the center mystery, but I was very disappointed with the revelation. I found it so illogical that it almost negated the interest that I had in earlier scenes. The film is well done while dealing with a depressing subject ripped from the news. If only the solution to this mystery weren’t so frustrating. INCENDIES is an engaging, if marred, journey into a woman’s life in that turbulent land.

Overall Rating: Three Out of Five Stars

SLIFF 2010 Review: CIRCUS KIDS

It’s rare when a film makes an unexpected turn a few minutes into viewing and sends you down another path. That’s the case of CIRCUS KIDS the new documentary from director Alexandra Lipsitz. The film begins as a profile of the St. Louis Arches, a group of young carnival performers based in the gateway city, who are a fixture of Circus Flora and St. Louis’s City Museum. We meet the group’s founder Jessica Hentoff, her own kids that are part of the troupe, and the the rest of Arches. Many of the kids come from tough, neighborhoods and relate that the Arches saved them from a life on the street. Okay,I see where this is headed. Or so I thought.

Turns out they’re headed to the Middle East. Israel to be exact. The Arches have been invited to tour there with the Gaililee Circus, a group of Jewish and Arab kids. After the Arches raise the travel funds, they arrive in Israel and meet the Gaililee kids. Their first meeting is awkward, but soon the coaches are helping the kids work together as they combine their talents. Now the Arches aren’t little angels. They tease, complain, and at one point they horrify the native kids when they hurl nasty racial epitaphs at each other at the pool. Things cool down soon enough and the kids begin to bond after the Arches stay with the families of the Gaililees. It’s great to see them observing and learning about new customs and cultures. After a couple of rough first shows, they take their act on the road, traveling to several cities and finally ending up at Jerusalem.

So what started as a profile of young midwest American circus performers turns into a great internatinal road trip adventure. Lipsitz gives equal time to the Arches and the Gaililee kids as they overcome their language and cultural barriers and learn that they’ve got many common hopes and dreams. CIRCUS KIDS presents an optimistic look at how we can work together and one day live together.

CIRCUS KIDS will play during the 19th Annual Stella Artois St. Louis International Film Festival on Sunday, November 21st at 1:30 pm at the Hi-Pointe Theatre.