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"The Mauritanian" (2021 release; 129 min.) brings the true story of Guantanamo Bay detainee Mohamedou. As the film opens, we are in "Mauritania, November 2001, 2 months after 9/11", and Mohamedou, who now lives in Germany, is back for a family visit. He is pulled aside by the Mauritanian police that the Americans would like to speak with him. Next it is "Albuquerque, New Mexico, February 2005", and by then Mohamedou has not been seen or heard of for over 3 years. Human rights attorney Nancy Hollander decides to take on his case, and finds out trough an old contact of hers at the Pentagon that Mohamedou is in fact now at Guantanamo Bay... At this point we are 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the latest from Oscar winning Scottish director Kevin Macdonald, whose previous work includes "The State of Play" and "Marley". Here he adopts Mohamedou's best-selling memoir "Guantanamo Bay Diary" for the big screen. Put aside for a moment how you feel about Guantanamo Bay, and instead ask yourself: is this a good movie? The answer is, alas, that this is a mixed bag. The script is unable to turn the explosive underlying story into a riveting movie experience. Jodie Foster, whom we haven't seen much of in the last decade or so, tries her best as Nancy Hollander but fails to stand out. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the Pentagon lead prosecutor who discovers thing he couldn't have imagined. Tahar Rahim fares best of all as Mehamedou, and gives a deeply personal performance. As to Guantanamo Bay itself, this particular movie exposes once again the brazen and illegal behavior initiated by the Bush administration and continued by both Obama and Trump. It absolutely blows the mind. At the movie's closing credits, we are reminded that 779 suspected terrorists were detained at Guantanamo Bay. The US military was able to obtain 7 convictions, of which 3 were overturned on appeal. So a grand total of FOUR convictions in 20 years of relentless pursuit of "justice", while violating all kinds of US and international laws along the way, Or as Hollander puts it: "I don't fight for the terrorists, I fight for the rule of law." A darn shame the movie couldn't match the importance of its topic.
"The Mauritanian" premiered in theaters this weekend, and I couldn't wait to see it. The Friday matinee screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati was attended so-so (7 people, including myself), which is more or less par for the course while the pandemic continues to rage in this country. The rest of the movieplex resembled a ghost town. I honestly don't understand how these places can operate profitably. All that aside, if you keep your expectations in check, and you have any interest in what really happened at Guantanamo Bay, I'd suggest you check out "The Mauritanian", be it in the theater, on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.
score 6/10
paul-allaer 13 February 2021
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw6591156/ |
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21-2-2021 09:32:06