Plot Sum

Global security agents and oppressed Ethiopians collaborate to a deserted resort in the Sudan to plot their escape to Israel and freedom in the early 1980’s

This is a predictable film based on a well-known true story that finally ends up with a conclusion. Or does it? It really is a “based on real events” type of Hollywood movie.  A lot of the reason I choose certain movies to review is not because they receive very low scores with the “true” critics, It’s because I am a movie lover.I find I have a different approach to watching movies. I remember hearing all of the news about this situation in the Red Sea and because of that, I put this on my watchlist. Some people may watch movies for other reasons, but this was mine.

What We Like

Anyway, on to the reason I like this film. Well you know the old cliche you shouldn’t go into a film with high expectations and that you should just watch? Well that is sort of how it happened for me in this film.

The Hollywood Reporter acknowledged the movie in this way “works well enough on its own terms”. The terms are that Hollywood took this somewhere more than I think it played out in real life, but overall I liked the movie. Unlike other comparisons I’ve read,  I like the “Ocean’s 11” meets “13 Hours” feel that this film has. Chris Evans does a nice job as Ari Levinson, an Israeli Mossad agent. He seems sincere in his reenactment and that is all I need to convince me. The supporting cast of Haley Bennett (Rachael) and Alessandro Nivola as Sam works well to set up the suspense of the film. Sam is a reluctant character at first but turns out to shine in the end.

Information Is King

However, it’s not in the acting that the film eventually trips over, it’s the writing. The general story is choppy. For me, I think it’s a lack of information on what actually happened in Sudan. When you’re a writer your best resource for putting out a great story is a lot of credible information. If you’re not creative enough not having that information, then the story is just there.

Greg Kinnear adds a little favor as he always does and Haley Bennett is her sexiest helping to set up the Government con for the resort. To summarize, I liked the acting better than I like the story. If you’re in the mood for an entertaining film and you don’t really know the story of the Red Sea Resort then you should have a look.

Final Note

It’s nice to see Chris Evans outside of his Captain America role and doing a role that shows his versatility. Netflix is paying top dollar for big actors, which is great, but they should look into getting some better writers and Directors. Without good acting this film could have been really bad.