Friday, June 4, 2021

The Mauritanian (2021)

IMDb plot summary: Mohamedou Ould Slahi fights for freedom after being detained and imprisoned without charge by the U.S. Government for years.
Directed by Kevin Macdonald. Starring Tahar Rahim, Jodie Foster, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Shailene Woodley.

Remembering that this is something that actually happened - and is still happening for others in Gitmo - makes this a really uncomfortable watch. Not in a bad way, just uncomfortable. Benedict Cumberbatch's incredibly southern accent is also uncomfortable, although to an entirely different degree, and he does a good job of conveying the moral arc of this character, as does Jodie Foster for hers. Tahar Rahim is compelling as well, but, disappointingly, it's not really his story, and I wish it was more. The script does a really good job of pacing the way the story unfolds and holding the audience's interest as they watch to see what actually happened. An interesting and thought-provoking movie handled fairly well, though I wish it centered more on Rahim's character than the lawyers'.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Mauritanian > The Misfits
The Mauritanian < Elf
The Mauritanian > Talk Radio
The Mauritanian < The Artist
The Mauritanian < Men in Black III
The Mauritanian < Pushing Tin
The Mauritanian < Nobody's Fool
The Mauritanian < Joker
The Mauritanian > Glory
The Mauritanian > Hero
The Mauritanian < Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
Final spot: #1255 out of 3374, or 63%.

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