20s Movie Review - The Mauritanian

Director: Kevin Macdonald
Genre: Drama/ Crime/ Thriller
Runtime: 124 minutes
Year: 2021
Starring: Jodie Foster, Benedict Cumberbacth, Shailene Woodley, Tahar Rahim

Description: Mohamedou Ould Slahi (Tahar Rahim) fights for freedom after being detained and imprisoned without charge by the U.S. Government for years.

Review: “The Mauritanian” tells the story of Mahamedou Ould Slahi, who was imprisoned for may years, without every being charged with anything. Nancy Hollander is a tough, old school lawyer, specialized in civil rights law. She doesn’t care if Slahi did it or not, all she knows is that even he deserves legal defense. On the other end of the spectrum is military prosecutor Stuart Couch, who los someone to 9/ 11 himself. He has a personal grudge against the defendant and will do anything to give him the punishment he deserves.  
The way Slahi’s story is shaped is based on the writings that the real Slahi had published as “Guantánamo Diary”. Even during his imprisonment. He is candid and suspicious, help-seeking and strong. And Tahar Rahim does an excellent job portraying this role. Jodie Foster is solid as ever.
Even though this true story is eternally relevant, it did come out a bit too late I believe. Not only is Bush long gone. It’s message is not loud enough to draw the right attention. I would have drawn more attention a few years back. But even with that being said, “The Mauritanian” is a movie worth watching.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Netflix Friday - Volume 90

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.
 

Action: London Has Fallen (2016)
In London for the Prime Minister’s funeral, Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) is caught up in a plot to assassinate all the attending world leaders.
 

Drama: Room (2015)
Held captive for 7 years in an enclosed space, a women (Brie Larson) and her young son (Jacob Tremblay) finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.
 

Comedy: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Six tales of life and violence in the Old West, following a singing gunslinger (Tim Blake Nelson), a bank robber (James Franco), a traveling impresario (Liam Neeson), an elderly prospector (Tom Waits), a wagon train, and a perverse pair of bounty hunters (Brendan Gleeson, Jonjo O’Neill).
 

Animation: Riverdance: the Animated Adventure (2021)
An Irish boy named Keegan and a Spanish girl named Moya journey into the mythical world of the Megaloceros Giganteus who teach them to appreciate Riverdance as a celebration of life.
 

Romance: Endless Love (2014)
The story of a privileged girl (Gabriella Wilde) and a charismatic boy (Alex Pettyfer) whose instant desire sparks a love affair made only reckless by parents trying to keep them apart.
 

Horror: Wrong Turn (2021)
Friends hiking the Appalachian Trail are confronted by ‘The Foundation’, a community of people who have lived in the mountains for hundreds of years.
 

Science Fiction: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Peter Parker (Tom Holland) balances his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens with his superhero alter-ego Spider-Man, and finds himself on the trail of a new menace prowling the skies of New York City.
 

Crime: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Eddy (Nick Moran) persuades his three pals to pool money for a vital poker game against a powerful local mobster, Hatchet Harry (P.H. Moriaty). Eddy loses, after which Harry gives him a week to pay back 500,000 pounds.
 

Thriller: The Mauritanian (2021)
Mohamedou Ould Slahi (Tahar Rahim) fights for freedom after being detained and imprisoned without charge by the U.S> Government for years.
 

Documentary: 27 Gone to Soon (2018)
An examination of the lives and deaths of the six most famous member of the ’27 Club’ – musicians who have died aged 27: Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse.
 

Family: Hachi (2009)
A college professor (Richard Gere) bonds with an abandoned dog he takes into his home.