The Covenant

You cannot go wrong with Jake Gyllenhaal. He should have won an Oscar by now as he is every bit as intense and talented as Leonardo DiCaprio. "The Covenant" starts out as what seems to be a garden-variety war movie, but with interesting off kilter shots and soundtrack, compliments of Guy Ritchie. Then it takes you to its main act, which capably veers away from action scenes to emphasize something human, honorable, and heartfelt. A surprising twist from a brutal, violent movie is that instead of the usual revenge theme, this is about "paying your debts" and doing something that redeems one's integrity. The journey to get there is quite intense, and Gyllenhaal finds himself an equally dramatic match with Dar Salim portraying Ahmed. His deep eyes say so much even when he is not saying anything.

Guy Ritchie's The Covenant is a great movie with an interesting story on an important subject matter. It has some intense action scenes and many moments of suspense. The music is fantastic, elevating every scene. That's now three movies where I've noticed a great musical score by composer Christopher Benstead, along with Wrath of Man and Operation Fortune.

Jake Gyllenhaal gives a great performance as usual. The surprise stand out is Dar Salim, who did a great job of getting me invested in his character and wellbeing. I wish Antony Starr (The Boys, Banshee) had a bigger role, but it was cool to see him have scenes with a star of Gyllenhaal's caliber. He's such a great actor and I continue to wait for him to get major movie roles.

I'm impressed with the subject matter covered here. It's so sad and needs to be addressed. It's not the first time the American government has broken promises or shirked responsibilities resulting in catastrophic outcomes for the people who put their trust in them. Some people will immediately call you unpatriotic for even bringing this up. But wrong is wrong, regardless of who does it.

(1 viewing, opening Thursday 4/20/2023)

The Covenant is one of Guy Ritchie's most meaningful films. It's a story that has a purpose and a message. While he's known for his unique visual style he puts that aside for the most part here to focus on the characters and their environment. This movie primarily focuses one two main characters. A Sgt. And an interpreter while in Afghanistan. A lot happens and the two become bonded and become committed to each other in the process. The movie has pacing issues as it starts out fairly slow. It picks up in the second act with some meaningful moments but the third act is where the movie kicks into high gear. The message is one that needs to be shared and the movie does a good enough job on this front. I don't think it's perfect by any means but it's serviceable and does it's job.

That's all I really got to say about this movie... the first act in itself was amazing, but added together with the second and third, this movie was absolutely gripping. I rarely find myself verbally willing the characters on in movies, but this one had me muttering 'cmon, CMON!!!' every single time the action ramped up. I love Jake in just about everything he does, and although this was no exception, it was the interpreters performance that took me by surprise. Balancing calmness and urgency, Dar Salim absolutely took me by surprise. I cannot recommend this one more than I already have so I leave you with one last phrase... SEE THE MOVIE!

In this straight-faced turn from Guy Ritchie, the pacing is certainly unorthodox, as over half the runtime is dedicated to set-up for an unexpectedly brisk final act. But all of it was so thoroughly investing that it didn't bother me.

And although a great deal of that set-up feels too rote, too similar to the many other war films seen in the last 20 years, The Covenant quickly carves out a thoroughly distinct feel for itself as it establishes its central theme of the indebtedness that comes with a spiritual bond people feel to each other.

Gyllenhaal is great as always, but the show-stealing star of this film is Dar Salim as Ahmed. He gives this film its emotional teeth and causes its hook of tension to sink into you and not let go till the end.

The pulse-pounding musical score and Ritchie's refreshingly restrained direction allow this film to truly have far more staying power than most run-of-the-mill war films.