Beirut [DVD]

Very actual to the warfare in the Middle East now, it shows the tone, the pitch and the vicious arrogance of the negotiations between Israel, the US with the PLO. I am a big fan of Rosamund Pike, in a superb and magical performance, she always reveals the recesses of her character, in all its complexity, Jon Hamm is nonetheless captivating, his role is to show us how limited, blunt, narrow-minded officials exercise power in the wrong angle. The camera work is insane, like nothing ever seen, we are so captivated that we feel right in the middle of it, as if we were there, it was our story.

Beirut: 7 out of 10: A washed-up professional negotiator (John Hamm) returns to Beirut to rescue a former friend whom he blames for the destruction of his family.The Good: Well they certainly captured the look and feel of early eighties Beirut. This is a ridiculously handsome production with nary a misstep in production design. The film decorates Tangier with enough extras and burnt out tanks to give the perfect representation. A true spectacle.Everyone is solid to good in his or her roles. John Hamm does a fine job considering the issues with his character (see below) and Rosamund Pike shows once again why serious filmmakers put her in their movies.The overall plot of forgiveness and closure with the past is well thought out. For the first half of the movie, this is a very tight drama told in a very convincing manner.The Bad: Tony Gilroy’s script gives a great opening and floor show but simply cannot stick the landing. The latter third of the film simply seems rushed. Where character development should be paying off and emotions taking the foreground we have deus ex machina piling upon deus ex machina. Last minute revelations undermine the carefully crafted plot while characters pull the negotiation version of a superweapon from thin air to fill obvious plot holes. The movie wants a happy ending the story (and location) certainly does not deserve.In addition, we have the problem with John Hamm’s character. We are told he is a self-destructive alcoholic and an expert negotiator. We are told this over and over again. We are not really shown this, however. While Hamm’s character is certainly gregarious, at no time in the movie does he seem to do a good job negotiating. In fact, considering the cards he is holding, by any honest measurement he is pretty awful at his jobEven stranger Gilroy’s script plays that old convention drunk guy sobers up for the big task. He has set back and oh no he is going for the bottle again. Watch the audience shriek in horror as they yell at the screen “No don’t do it” as he pours another whiskey. In reality, self-destructive alcoholics are not triggered to drink when things go badly. They are triggered to drink when things go well. The whole will he drink thing seems more hamfisted audience manipulation than actual actions by the character.The Ugly: The film ends with a completely unnecessary credits clip about the actual US involvement in Beirut in the early eighties. In a few minutes, the clips manage to downplay a real tragedy (The marine barracks bombing in 1983 that killed 241 U.S. and 58 French peacekeepers), skip the incident the movie is obviously based on (The kidnapping and murder of CIA station chief William Francis Buckley in 1985), and generally undercut the artistry that came before it as well as insult the audience watching.In Conclusion: Despite the ending, as well as some issues with the focus on plot over character, I enjoyed this movie. I cannot overemphasize how handsome a production this is. The film really manages to take you a different time and place. As a setting early eighties Beirut is a fantastic one. There is a great fall of civilization/ Mad Max vibe that permeates every scene. The film does a nice job during quiet moments to capture the horrible destruction and the human nature of those still occupying the city going about their daily lives. There are wonderful stories that can be told in such chaos. This story was just a little less wonderful than it needed to be.

NO-SPOILER REVIEW4.5 StarsThis was a great movie! I really thought it delivered on all fronts.The story was intriguing for sure and complex. The characters were believable, the story was believable. It was peppered with suspense and action. The complexities of the scenarios and storyline created for multi-dimensional characters that made it interesting because there was no black&white/good&bad dichotomy everything starts to sort of blend into a moral spectrum of gray, and that simplistic dichotomous notion in many stories/movies is lost to the wayside in this movie. Which I think creates for a much more stimulating and engaging story.I'm not versed in Middle East history or context. But this movie was such that I would have to look it up to find out if this was based on a true story or historically happened or not. It's that believable. My guess is not or there would have been more obvious advertisement of such, as there usually is (I think it's typically a selling point for movie-productions). However, having said that, I am almost positive the cultural/geo-political context is definitely accurate and based on reality and history (i.e. what was happening in Beirut in the 70's and 80's etc). Which was kind of cool in that inadvertently the story was informing and educational, even though that obviously wasn't its purpose. It was primarily just entertaining and intriguing.Again, everything was done really well in this movie, I can't really find any beefs or criticisms with it. Actually, it makes me wonder, did this movie not come out in theaters? This is a solid production, can't imagine any reason why it wouldn't have, and if it didn't, it should have!Watch if you're willing to go along a story that is intriguing, compelling, complicated but ultimately rewarding, informative and highly entertaining with strong doses of suspense! Not a casual viewing, will require your mental attention to keep track of everything well...

Good movie, great plot and both lead actors work well together.

If you're sick of movies that cater for 18 year-olds this just might do the trick. This actually requires a bit of historical knowledge and a couple of brain cells to enjoy, but if you have both you will probably not regret spending a couple of hours watching this. In fact, odds are you will want to watch it again just to catch up on everything you missed the first time around, it packs so much into its running time. Very well written, although I think it may have been better suited to a TV series as it's a little too compact for a relatively short feature film. But if you just want to get a taste of the hellhole that was early-80s Beirut, this gives a good safe-in-your-living-room simulation of what it must have been like. And it gives you extra appreciation that you're living in the relative safety that Western civilization provides for you. Long may it prosper!

Great film and actor lm very happy with the seller and product

Had never heard of this movie before I encountered it on Amazon. It’s a real thriller! So evocative of Lebanon during this time and place in history. Thanks Amazon!

plays well home use