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Catch a Fire
What makes a terrorist? It is a tantalizing question, particularly in a world still reverberating from the 9-11 attacks and the Iraq War. While the anti-apartheid story of Catch a Fire is a far cry from the horrors of current-day terrorism, director Phillip Noyce (The Quiet American, Rabbit-Proof Fence) uses the true-life tale to provide an interesting window into how oppression can transform even the most apathetic citizen into a self-proclaimed "freedom fighter."
Set in 1980, Catch a Fire centers on the odyssey of Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke). A foreman for a large oil refinery in South Africa's Secunda coalfields, Patrick is hardly a political firebrand. He is black -- and therefore subject to the daily indignities of apartheid's white rule -- but Patrick rejects the political activism of his friends and neighbors, instead focusing his attention on life with his wife Precious (Bonnie Henna) and their two young daughters. He prefers to keep his head down and just get along, even when police subject him and his family to a humiliating search of their car simply because they doubt that blacks would own such a nice automobile.
Patrick's tolerance for injustice is tested after the anti-apartheid African National Congress bombs part of the refinery where he works. Patrick has no alibi, having spent the night with a mistress (to its credit, Catch a Fire does not turn Chamusso into a saint). An investigation is launched by anti-terrorism officer Nic Vos (Tim Robbins), a generally decent man whose dedication to duty leads him to the most insidious of interrogation techniques. Vos and his thugs torture Patrick, trying to compel a confession. Only after the police also round up Precious does Patrick break, offering a confession if only they will not harm his wife. Vos realizes Patrick is innocent and lets him go.
But the ordeal pushes Patrick into becoming the very terrorist that Vos had erroneously pinned him as being. The man bids goodbye to his wife and sneaks across the border into Mozambique, where he joins the ANC. Given the code name "Hot Stuff" (the original, and thankfully discarded, title of Catch a Fire), Patrick helps plot another bombing of the Secunda refinery.
The picture is at its more compelling when chronicling Patrick's gravitation to the ANC and the acts for which he was falsely (at least initially) accused. Although director Noyce and screenwriter Shawn Slovo wisely resist indulging in didacticism, it is difficult not to draw correlations to modern-day scandals such as Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prison. As Patrick endures beatings and a near-drowning for a crime he did not commit, the filmmakers lay bare the suggestion that nothing breeds terrorism like counter-terrorism.
It is a provocative sentiment, albeit not one that Catch a Fire explores fully. Although the movie is based on actual events, Patrick's leap to terrorism comes off as a bit pat. His hardened feelings toward apartheid are certainly understandable, but he seems to make an awfully quick about-face in light of his initial submissiveness. Moreover, the film's second half settles into the shopworn conventions of a run-of-the-mill thriller. Noyce is a versatile director, but the guy did helm two motion pictures based on Tom Clancy books (Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger). The ensuing cat-and-mouse game between Patrick and Vos is well-crafted, but it's standard fare, squandering some of the flick's more pungent thematic possibilities.
The movie's second half might feel forced, but not Derek Luke, whose performance exudes charisma. Robbins is less successful as Vos. The filmmakers deserve credit for resisting the temptation to make Vos a one-note villain; he is shown to be a dedicated family man simply trying to do his job. Even so, Robbins barely registers in the role.
The DVDThe Video:
The picture quality is terrific -- vivid colors, inky blacks, precise details and no noticeable defects such as edge enhancement, grain or noise. Catch a Fire is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen.
The Audio:The Dolby Digital 5.1 is fine, although it tends to make rather conventional use of sound separation. Audio tracks are available in English and French, with subtitles in French, Spanish and English for the hearing-impaired.
Extras:A commentary featuring Noyce, Chamusso, Luke, Robbins, Henna, Shawn Slovo and producer Robyn Slovo (and sister of screenwriter Shawn) is interesting and informative – but has little to do with the action occurring onscreen. Instead, the commentaries (each person offers remarks separately) deal more with issues surrounding the film and the real-life story that inspired it.
Three deleted scenes are of little consequence; together, they have an aggregate running time of two minutes, 16 seconds.
Final Thoughts:A good movie but one that doesn't live up to its promise, Catch a Fire ultimately switches gears for safer – and decidedly more predictable – territory.
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