Where I Watched It: Amazon
English Audio Description Provided By: Deluxe
Narrated By: Jedidiah Barton, Jillian Smith, and Laura Post
When this first came out, i assumed it was more of Guy Ritchie’s crap. If we are being honest, he’s been stuck for a while now, and while I used to get excited by seeing his name on a film, he’s started to lose me. I think The Covenant is one of the best things he’s ever directed. Certainly, it stands out in my mind as being one of the best films of the year, and I don’t care who i need to fight on that. I don’t know what my top 10 for the year will look like, but this has a very good shot.
And a lot of that has to do with two men, Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim, who are captivating in this Afghan war thriller. Salim is the true standout and star as the interpreter willing to do just about anything to get his family out of Afghanistan. I wish this film had done better so people would know him as an actor, because he’s incredible.
There are sections of this film where Salim is obviously the lead, as Gyllenhaal is otherwise incapacitated, but other scenes where Jake takes over and yells into phones. It’s a balance, and these actors are giving everything to this film.
Even if you know how the film will be laid out, there’s still suspense in the unknown of how someone survives. There is such a spectrum of survival that anything really could happen. But, much like most of Jake’s career, he’ll be forgotten by awards bodies, and shoved out of the way. i don’t know why more people can’t embrace what he does, as he is consistently great, from Nightcrawler and End of Watch, to films like this, and some earlier dramas like The Good Girl, Moonlight Mile, and even Stronger.
For Dar Salim, considering how the awards bodies went nuts for Barkhad Abdi’s performance in Captain Phillips it is a shame how he’s being overlooked here. He has so much he has to do, and it’s a
If you are considering trying to watch this without audio description, let me remind you this film takes place in another country, and has an interpreter as a person who has to go elsewhere. Action scenes, people dying, more translation, gunfire, death, people getting shot, Jake making phone calls, and all the trappings of how Ritchie used to direct 20 years ago make audio description a must.
I’m a big fan. I think this might be on a lot of my Best Of 2023 lists. I feel super confident in my grade, and I honestly assumed this movie would suck.
Final Grade: A
