IR Film Review: THE MAURITANIAN [STX]
The aspect of guilt and the perspective of guilt can be two different things. Considering the events of the last two months the idea of what can be proven and what can be enforced are two different realities. Director Kevin MacDonald knows a thing or two about reality having begun in documentaries but the real life perspective wrapped in the guise of a movie continues to fascinate him. With "The Last King Of Scotland", it was also about perspective and perception. Here the idea of a person of Mauritania (alas "The Mauritanian"), which actually is a country on the Northwest Coast of Africa next to Algiers, is accused of being one of the masterminds behind direct phone connections to Osama Bin Laden through a sat phone (and, by extension, to the 9/11 attacks). While the meaning of that, beyond talking to his cousin on one of Bin Laden's sat phone, is lightly explored, the movie is more about guilt by association and the need for a scapegoat in a volatile time after 9/11, not unlike what we are dealing with now with the pandemic and insurrection in DC.
The irony is that was outwards in a way and today is more interior between two extremes, and yet there are tinges that are eerily parallel back then, even internally. The cast is good but it is used in the preterition of what certain ideas are brought. Jodie Foster has always had a keen eye for material but as she has gotten older, as is the way of Hollywood, the roles have become scarcer. This one has reflections of her films like "Inside Man" and "Silence Of The Lambs". And of course, a director is always important for her. She plays the attorney fighting for the Mauritanian's rights but within the construct of Guantanamo Bay which at that time with prisoners had a lot of rumors swirling around it in terms of coercion and interrogation. In mounting a defense she is angled against Benedict Cumberbatch (playing a Navy focused American with the accent --- Cumberbatch is also a producer on the film).
The scenes with the two of them are the most dynamic and shows that just putting two people talking in a room, as long as they are great actoors, will never disappoint. Supporting turns by Shailene Woodley and Zachary Levi are good in their own points (simply because the aspect of being in the circle with this kind pedigree). But Tahar Marim sells it as the lead character. It only works if he is an unknown and his work is good but the shadow of Foster looms bright. As an actress she is always thinking and that power is sometimes lost in bigger blockbuster pictures with other actors where the flaws and idiosyncrasies are not highlighted or instead glossed over. "The Mauritanian" is an apt movie for today while still moving briskly along with an exceptional pedigree, solid performances and something to say. B
By Tim Wassberg
