Au nom de la liberté

Philip Noyce's politically charged thriller starring Academy Award winner Tim Robbins and Derek Luke is brilliant and striking picture. When Patrick Chamusso (Luke) is wrongfully charged with terrorist charges and his family violently offended by the leader of the operation Nik Vos, (Robbins) Patrick joins the rebellion to fight against the regime.

As the film touches on the many tones of politics, racism, and economic problems in South Africa, the emotional and dramatic quality of the film is the beauty of it. While the screenplay has flaws in character arc, the film is as beautiful as it is tragic. Derek Luke puts forth the best performance of his short career and is on his way to many potent and demanding roles in the future. His humanity and heroism shown in Patrick carries the film on his shoulders and when years pass, this will be film we will remember Luke's breakout turn besides Antwone Fisher.

Tim Robbins brings forth a frightening turn with his spot on accent but is a little distracting and a miscast. With no direction for his character to go, many questions are left unanswered and frustrates the viewer. He still shows us he is one of the best working actors today when put in the right role.

Bonnie Henna who puts forth an admirable effort as the supportive wife, "Precious," leaves the audience a bit disenchanted but has the strong will that makes the viewer worry for her. While Patrick is training and gets his codename, "Hotstuff" in which the film is adapted from of the same title, Henna is given enough screen time to run with her role and soar.

Noyce creates some great cinematic moments with Luke but I have to say, I give Luke much of the credit. He completely engulfed himself in his role. His charm and charisma is his strongest attribute and lets the film succeed as much as it can. The film however never really "catches fire" rather sparks up all over the place.

Grade: ***/****

This movie, set in the 1980's, depicts and contrasts the brutal oppression of White South Africa with the opposition of the ANC, most notably Joe Slovo, a hero of the time. Joe Slovo paid a high price for his opposition, including the loss of his wife to the oppressors of the day, but this movie, with a screenplay written by one of his children, takes a high-minded, forgiving approach that few of us could ever contemplate in the circumstances. Told through the eyes of Patrick Chamusso, a gentle man whose quiet life becomes radicalized by oppressive forces, the movie is powerful, emotional and, curiously - for reasons mentioned, balanced. One of the best movies I have ever seen, with a fine performance by Tim Robbins as a detective without a soul. This movie was first screened at the Toronto International Film Festival where it received lengthy and well-deserved applause, as did a gracious Mr. Chamusso, who was on hand at the premiere.

This film didn't have the attention it would have deserved, at least in Europe (no attention at all in Italy..) but it's quite riveting. Elevated and empowered by Tim Robbin's and Derek Luke's performances "Catch a fire" has the right impact and vibrancy. It should raise important political questions in a world obsessed with terrorism and it's also filled with well - staged action scenes. The apartheid era is properly described and the social history developing in this context is certainly remarkable, though not flawless. Compared to other productions dealing with the same subject this one offers a perspective a bit different and more mature and ends up with a surprising forgiveness

I can't quarrel with those who give this film high praise for powerfully representing the complex humanity of both the oppressor and oppressed with first-rate film-making. Essentially it tells how a capable, peaceable bystander is bullied into becoming a "freedom fighter" (or "terrorist" if you will), at cost. BUT given most of the film's present-tense dramatic intensity, I was disappointed by the sudden lapse into voice-over past tense narration at the end, hastily tacked on it would seem to tell us that though the story seems a downer, historically it all turned out well after all. I'd rather have seen another hour -- maybe less -- that continued the tale on its own terms -- the subject is epic enough to deserve it. Or else seen all that end material separated from the film itself, an end flourish upwards amid the end-credits, performing the job but leaving the main story its own integrity. Too bad. An excellent film, strong but in this regard imperfect.

It's a shame this movie was so overshadowed by Blood Diamond. Catch A Fire had, in my opinion, a much more powerful story.

All acting was done perfect. I loved the cinematography with the plant in the background. I could really feel the emotion of the Africans chanting and singing for freedom.

Some will say this movie is racist towards white people. It is nothing of the sort. It even has a white or two on the side for justice. This movie didn't make Tim Robbin's character look evil. At least I didn't think so. I saw him as a man doing what he thought he needed to do to protect his family.

I think we need to learn from this story. There are terrorists all over the world. We say they are pure evil. We say we will solve the problem by hunting them down and killing them. With some, that may be necessary. But most just want justice, and want to be heard.