Director: Sean Penn
Starring: Charlize Theron, Javier Bardem, Jean Reno, Adèle Exarchopoulos
Running Time: 132 minutes
Synopsis: Dr. Wren Petersen (Charlize Theron) grew up in the shadow of her father, founder of Médecins du Monde. Having focused her life on fund raising, she meets and falls in love with field doctor Miguel (Javier Bardem) while on a trip to war-torn Liberia. They become a couple and Wren resumes practicing field medicine in conflict zones, but traumatic experiences, exposure to atrocities, and Miguel's jaded attitude take a toll.
What Works Well: The ambition to set a grand romance against the backdrop of world shaping events is admirable, and carries echoes from Dr. Zhivago and The English Patient. Despite patchy writing, Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem throw themselves into their roles, while the scenes of strife and violence on the African continent are packed with painful impact. Director Sean Penn captures the scope of unfolding tragedies in medical procedures under fire, hazardous treks through the jungle, terrifying encounters with soldiers crazed on drugs, and massive UN-run refugee tent cities.
What Does Not Work As Well: From the opening text, writer Erin Dignam is intent on conflating mass suffering on a continental scale with a routine love between a woman discovering herself and a scrappy doctor. The mis-directed focus is disturbingly sustained through dismissiveness of any context to the pervasive violence, while Wren doubles down on tiresome and repetitive "you don't know me" assertations. Mopey narration does not help, nor does a miserable failure of a scene featuring teeth-brushing as foreplay. The supporting cast, including Jean Reno and Adèle Exarchopoulos, is largely wasted.
Conclusion: Good intentions undermined by unbalanced emphasis.
All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.
All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.
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