Surprising. I hadn’t expected to enjoy this movie but I did. Sadly the trailer once again spoiled the experience by giving away events from the end of the movie. How about allowing the movie goer surprise, guys? That too can be an important part of the cinema experience. Movies do not have to be entirely predictable to be pleasurable.
This is definitely from the popcorn end of the pond but no less enjoyable for that. A great mixture of humour and emotion and some fine performances from Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner and Chris Cooper. The overall balance was not quite right with the first two thirds being mainly an investigation/character piece and the last third a shoot ’em up action movie. Oh well, nice to see the female lead hold her own in both parts though. Jason Bateman’s character didn’t work for me, I just did not see the point of his presence at all. He didn’t really add anything to the mix and if I’d had my way the character would have been cut from the script early on. He was totally superfluous.
My favourite scene came in the first third of the movie. The team has made it to Saudi and are going door to door in the compound interviewing survivors and family members. A husband describes his wife’s death and reacts to the presence of the Saudi police. The rawness of the moment is stunning, it rips your heart out. Guh!
This will be a great movie night dvd rental.
Current temperature: here 13C/55F, there 39F/4C