346. The Negotiator; movie review

THE NEGOTIATOR
Cert 15
107 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong language, violence

Will there ever be peace in the Middle East?
I could have asked the same question 2,000 years ago and the answer would probably been equally pessimistic.
Even from the outside, the issues seem to be insurmountable and the various opposition representatives equally intransigent.
The involvement of the United States has thrown oil on the burning fire in recent decades and that is the focus of Brad Anderson's The Negotiator which is set in the early 1980s.
Jon Hamm plays a former American diplomat who is brought out of sudden retirement to return, reluctantly, to Lebanon after ten years of civil war.
He finds a country riven by the violent struggle between factions seeking power and political manoeuvring by representatives of states looking after their own interests.
Rosamund Pike is among the secret agents who need the help of Hamm's character in freeing an American hostage from the clutches of the local militia.
The Negotiator gives a flavour of the tensions which surround such scenarios.
On one hand, the Americans want their man released but even they know that it cannot be at any costs.
Meanwhile, the kidnappers are volatile and argue among themselves over whether they trust the intermediaries.
Even greater complications are added by those looking on and in this case that is the Israelis.
Hamm is believable as a man who has become hardened to handling delicate egos and his my-way-or-no-way approach causes consternation among his colleagues.
Pike is rather low-key as his facilitator who has her own very personal reasons for wanting a successful outcome to the mission.
But Anderson's film doesn't grip as much as its storyline suggests it should.
This may be down to the superficial character exploration, the players' lack of humility or because the film presumes some prior knowledge of history.
Or it may be because we are now desensitised to drama in the Middle East.

Reasons to watch: An uncompromising take on the Middle East crisis in the 70s and early 80s
Reasons to avoid: Presumes quite a lot of knowledge

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6/10

Director quote - Brad Anderson: "Part of what scared me but was also exciting was the challenge of trying to pull off and create this world of Beirut, circa 1980, the war-torn city, the sense of this once elegant place fallen into ruin—how to do that on a very limited budget and limited time. "

The big question - Will there ever be peace in the Middle East?

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