Ah, Somalia... where is it again? There's a new movie for every- or anybody willing to learn something about this African country famous for having been an major commercial centre in antique period, and, er, its pirates gaining international fame during the 2000's.
Or they might have been just local fishermen protecting their livelihood from illegal fishing by foreign trawlers, depending on who you ask.
As the title strongly suggests, "The Pirates of Somalia" is about those fishermen. It's based on actual events taking place mostly circa 2009, and actually has two stories in one.
The smaller story - mostly the beginning and the end - is about this American dude (Evan Peters) who wants to become journalist after college but can't get work. So he decides to do something noteworthy and travels to Somalia to write a book about its pirates.
This section plays out like typical youth comedy: dude fighting with parents who would like to see him doing something with his life, instead of living in their basement, smoking marijuana with friends, hanging out with this funny old man (Al Pacino) who likes cigars and drinks.
The dialogue feels pretty fresh and the general vibe is good. I enjoyed the unexpected little surprises such as the the character of pothead friend who's actually pretty smart, the foul language in TV news...
Also, Evan Peters is a likable leading dude, unpretentious but informed and eloquent, nerdish but charming. Think along the lines of Jesse Eisenberg and Emile Hirsch, and you might get the picture.
The bigger story is about him living in Somalia, socializing with the locals and trying to get interviews from pirates. All this is harder to describe because writer-director Brian Buckley has wanted to show life as it was, and not offer some packaged or ready-to-go entertainment connected to a specific genre.
He has dived right in the middle of Somalian everyday life and avoids typical cliches about Africa, as far as I can tell.
Yes, there are some goats walking on the streets, people living in slums, a lot of men carrying guns in public, etc. But the style is not hollywood-ish at all. People are just people, and most of the time, nothing big and exciting happens. Even the witty dialogue has been left back home at the U.S.
This simple and humane approach is "Pirates's" main strength but also it main weakness. Because for a near two hour movie, we see pirates but not exciting about them, and there's actually not much to learn about the local life too.
I did not get the general sense of what the people do all day every day, or even what the dude does (I can deduce he was writing for some of the time, and doing local drugs for fun, but then what?).
I know I am supposed to judge what the movie for what it is, not what it isn't. But it's still kind of funny that a story trying to give us deeper understanding about Somalia never really explores or explains what makes its people tick, or the pirates.
Well, it's still pretty chill way to spend two hours with a movie, and the acting is very human and natural, both by professionals and the locals, almost all of who are played by actual Somalian refugees.
In the central role is this Barkhad Abdi - nominated for Golden Globe and Oscar for 2013's "Captain Phillips" (where he played Somalian pirate). On American side, we also have some former stars like Melanie Griffith and Al Pacino.
Or they might have been just local fishermen protecting their livelihood from illegal fishing by foreign trawlers, depending on who you ask.
As the title strongly suggests, "The Pirates of Somalia" is about those fishermen. It's based on actual events taking place mostly circa 2009, and actually has two stories in one.
The smaller story - mostly the beginning and the end - is about this American dude (Evan Peters) who wants to become journalist after college but can't get work. So he decides to do something noteworthy and travels to Somalia to write a book about its pirates.
This section plays out like typical youth comedy: dude fighting with parents who would like to see him doing something with his life, instead of living in their basement, smoking marijuana with friends, hanging out with this funny old man (Al Pacino) who likes cigars and drinks.
The dialogue feels pretty fresh and the general vibe is good. I enjoyed the unexpected little surprises such as the the character of pothead friend who's actually pretty smart, the foul language in TV news...
Also, Evan Peters is a likable leading dude, unpretentious but informed and eloquent, nerdish but charming. Think along the lines of Jesse Eisenberg and Emile Hirsch, and you might get the picture.
The bigger story is about him living in Somalia, socializing with the locals and trying to get interviews from pirates. All this is harder to describe because writer-director Brian Buckley has wanted to show life as it was, and not offer some packaged or ready-to-go entertainment connected to a specific genre.
He has dived right in the middle of Somalian everyday life and avoids typical cliches about Africa, as far as I can tell.
Yes, there are some goats walking on the streets, people living in slums, a lot of men carrying guns in public, etc. But the style is not hollywood-ish at all. People are just people, and most of the time, nothing big and exciting happens. Even the witty dialogue has been left back home at the U.S.
This simple and humane approach is "Pirates's" main strength but also it main weakness. Because for a near two hour movie, we see pirates but not exciting about them, and there's actually not much to learn about the local life too.
I did not get the general sense of what the people do all day every day, or even what the dude does (I can deduce he was writing for some of the time, and doing local drugs for fun, but then what?).
I know I am supposed to judge what the movie for what it is, not what it isn't. But it's still kind of funny that a story trying to give us deeper understanding about Somalia never really explores or explains what makes its people tick, or the pirates.
Well, it's still pretty chill way to spend two hours with a movie, and the acting is very human and natural, both by professionals and the locals, almost all of who are played by actual Somalian refugees.
In the central role is this Barkhad Abdi - nominated for Golden Globe and Oscar for 2013's "Captain Phillips" (where he played Somalian pirate). On American side, we also have some former stars like Melanie Griffith and Al Pacino.