After making his comeback to smaller scale filmmaking with thrilling crime tales The Gentlemen and Wrath of Man, “toff guy” filmmaker Guy Ritchie’s recent career trajectory has largely returned to the heights of his initial breakthrough. Having paid his dues within the studio system for the better part of a decade, Ritchie is, instead, using his cache to direct the films he wants to make, and not the hired gun gigs he had been revelling in for the 2010s. His latest, his fifth film in just four years, is a sizable departure for the filmmaker. Instead of his usual comedic crime capers, this is a sturdy, involving war picture that strains when it reaches for resonance.
It’s 2018, nearly two full decades since the American occupation of Afghanistan. Sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his team are given the unfortunate task of searching village to village, in hopes of finding Afghan-made IEDs. After an ambush by the Taliban, Kinley is nearly killed, but rescued by his newly-hired local interpreter, Ahmed (Dar Salim), who then literally drags him across the mountains to find the closest U.S. base. When Kinley returns home, he’s informed of all that Ahmed did for him, and that the Taliban is actively hunting him, forcing Ahmed into hiding. When all other means of getting Ahmed and his family out run dry, Kinley decides to call in a few favors and go back to Afghanistan to repay the debt he owes and bring Ahmed to safety.
It would be easy for Ritchie, alongside co-writers Ivan Atkinson and Marn Davies, to indulge in simple patriotism, not dissimilar to the jingoistic Lone Survivor or American Sniper, but this is a far more subdued and human look at brotherhood. Both tonally and stylistically, The Covenant is a departure for Ritchie, making his stripped-down shooting style a welcoming change of pace. The set pieces are intense and gritty, but rarely overly bombastic, emphasizing tension over spectacle. The film is at its best when it’s focusing on the survival of Ahmed and Kinley. Backed by two terrific starring performances, Ritchie allows the film to breathe and allows the bond between both men to naturally tighten. The intense push-pull dynamic is compulsively watchable, but also shows the drastic dip in quality when compared to the films hollow familial melodrama.
Dar Salim’s Ahmed is unlike any interpreter Kinley has seen before. He’s sharp and quick-witted, but also hides a great deal of pain underneath. Gyllenhaal brings a natural sense of guilt and even shame to the character, anguishing the fact he made it out, yet Salim did not. You can feel the tense determination beaming over Gyllenhaal’s face as he faces his superior (Jonny Lee Miller) who delivers the unfortunate news on behalf of the bureaucracy that Ahmed and his family won’t be supplied with the visas that were initially promised.
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant won’t be remembered among the best of his work, but it does still find the director flexing some new filmmaking muscles. This is a compelling war drama with a pair of terrific performances and is yet another solid picture under Guy Ritchie’s belt.
Sounds like…Jarhead for a new generation…minus the talents of Sam Mendes, Roger Deakins, William Broyles, Jr. or Jaime Foxx.
I genuinely had no idea this was coming out until recently. I’ll definitely watch it though as it sounds good.
This looks interesting! I’m a Guy Ritchie fan!
Good review! Definitely have the same feeling on the film. I really liked it and thought it was one of his stronger recent films.
Very good and moving film. Action, plus later dealing with honor and then action at the end. End title cards speak volumes how once again America has turned their back on those that helped them during a war. well acted by the 2 leads. 3.5 of 4 stars
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