Solid performances all round, the entire thing lacks something however.
I'm genuinely surprised over some of the reviews here saying how shocked they were at this story. Did people honestly not know this is what is going on? Maybe they've just forgotten. There was maybe a lost opportunity here to address the patriot act in more detail and give it a more contemporary context, such as Gitmo still being active and even more prisoners being held without trial, (although briefly mentioned in the credits). Possibly the Obama administrations part in the torture of detainees too. I daresay there are some glaring factual errors here too, but who cares right? It's only a movie.
The torture sequences in the film messed up the tone and pacing in my opinion, they didn't feel very impactful.
Cumberbatch and Foster give very professional performances however I'll never believe Cumberbatch with a southern accent. Tahar Rahim is excellent as 'The Mauritanian' and I can't fault him here.
All in all a reasonable effort however once the dust settles, expect this rating to lower considerably.
I'm genuinely surprised over some of the reviews here saying how shocked they were at this story. Did people honestly not know this is what is going on? Maybe they've just forgotten. There was maybe a lost opportunity here to address the patriot act in more detail and give it a more contemporary context, such as Gitmo still being active and even more prisoners being held without trial, (although briefly mentioned in the credits). Possibly the Obama administrations part in the torture of detainees too. I daresay there are some glaring factual errors here too, but who cares right? It's only a movie.
The torture sequences in the film messed up the tone and pacing in my opinion, they didn't feel very impactful.
Cumberbatch and Foster give very professional performances however I'll never believe Cumberbatch with a southern accent. Tahar Rahim is excellent as 'The Mauritanian' and I can't fault him here.
All in all a reasonable effort however once the dust settles, expect this rating to lower considerably.