I often find it hard to appreciate films like this which try to tell a story of some real life living figure as part of some grander morality lesson. Even when you agree with the political position of the film, as I do here, film in its desire to make the person into the hero it needs them to be (even in an “every person” sort of way) can stumble in making the kinds of complex narratively fascinating characters needed to make the kinds of movie I get a lot of out of. Also they often suffer from a “history lesson” approach (this happened, then this happened, then...) which also can make a movie more of a slog than an entertaining piece of cinema. Despite the fact Official Secrets tells the story of a (fairly “every person”) hero who did something important Im not sure it gets around these problems. Its story is compelling enough and the performances good enough and while I got passionate about the issue Im not sure i was ever passionate about the movie and watching it.
I also felt the movie might not quite ever fully capture the importance of what it is covering. The summation, which arrives rather quickly, basically provides the conclusion that the Iraq was was illegal and while it blatantly asks us to consider all the dead as we wrestle with that. But the film’s rather lack lustre crescendo doesnt make it feel like this hits home as much as it should.
Still, the movie is good enough. Its story is good enough. Its cast is good enough. You wont regret watching it or get bored but you likely wont be excited about watching it either. And will it make you mad enough?
Official Secrets
Starring: Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Rhys Ifans, Ralph Fiennes, Jeremy Northam
Director: Gavin Hood
Writers: Gregory Bernstein, Sara Bernstein, Gavin Hood
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