Interview. Noyce, Robbins, Slovo.

"Patrick Chamusso's story - one of a political awakening of will - resonates with such vigor that, when the credits roll, it may take a while before you realize that not only have you just watched a 'message' movie, you've also had an incredibly good time," writes Chris Wiggum, introducing his interview with Catch a Fire director Phillip Noyce, screenwriter Shawn Slovo and supporting player Tim Robbins.

Related: In the Stranger, Annie Wagner takes note of "two inflammatory theses. One: Terrorism is not an absolute evil; it's an extra-military tactic that can be put to noble use. And two: Oppressive governments create terrorists by imprisoning and torturing innocent men. The folly - or perhaps the commercial capitulation - of the film is that it tamps down these fiery ideas with pretty, docile cinematography, shallow characterizations, and by-the-numbers action sequences that would put even the most inquisitive mind to rest."

"It's a film that wants to play as if it were ripped from today's headlines, but has been shredded into near incoherence," writes Manohla Dargis in the New York Times, where Noyce narrates a fine audio slide show.

"Though the drama plays out with Biblical justice - a weak man and his people grow stronger, while a bully and his regime are fatally weakened - Chamusso is no cardboard hero, and his oppressor's cruelty is complicated by insufficiently suppressed doubt," writes Ella Taylor in the LA Weekly.

Salon's Stephanie Zacharek: "Catch a Fire has everything going for it: a smart director, good actors, a writer who's a proven storyteller and who has a deep emotional stake in the material. But scene by scene, Catch a Fire just doesn't spark."

But for Kenneth Turan, Derek Luke saves the picture: "The young American actor gives such an intense, passionate performance as South African Patrick Chamusso that he just about dares you not to be involved with the tale he is telling." Also in the Los Angeles Times is Susan King's profile of Luke.

"Although Noyce manages a persuasive picture of South Africa in the last throes of apartheid, including some sterling battle scenes, Catch a Fire doesn't have the impact of Rabbit-Proof Fence," writes Gerald Peary in the Boston Phoenix.

Jennifer Merin talks with Noyce for the New York Press.

Earlier: Robert Wilonsky in the Voice and Robert Keser in Slant; Scott Foundas's interview with Noyce for the LA Weekly.

Updates: Scott Tobias at the AV Club: "The problem with Tim Robbins' dreadful turn as a South African 'anti-terrorist' official in Catch A Fire - and it was also a problem with his sniveling Bill Gates impersonation in Antitrust - is that he can't hide his distaste for his own character."

Marc Savlov disagrees in the Austin Chronicle: "Robbins, despite the fact that he's playing a man who easily could have come off as a sadistic bastard (the torture of both innocent and not-so-innocent South Africans plays an emotionally critical role throughout the film), imbues chilly [Nic] Vos with the vagaries of self-doubt, however slight, ultimately rendering him as ensnared in history's pull as his quarry. It's always odd to see Robbins, a political activist in his own right, playing at villainy (see Arlington Road, Bob Roberts), but here he descends into the role so thoroughly that the lopsided smile becomes less a notation of cockeyed boyishness than a treacherous Cheshire smirk."

"The tragic pull of the story is hard to resist," writes Jürgen Fauth, but the film "comes up short compared to the more ambitious Paradise Now, which raised the bar on showing the inner struggles of men who confuse caring for their families with setting bombs."

Posted by dwhudson at October 27, 2006 2:06 AM