Beirut (2018)
Directed by Brad Anderson
In 1980s Beirut, Mason Skiles is a former U.S. diplomat who is called back into service to save a colleague from the group that is possibly responsible for his own family's death. Meanwhile, a CIA field agent who is working under cover at the American embassy is tasked with keeping Mason alive and ensuring that the mission is a success.
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Anderson (“The Machinist”) matches Mason with an ace supporting cast, including Rosamund Pike, Dean Norris, and Shea Whigham, all of whom ultimately prove to be underserved in a narrative that values twists and turns over actual growth.
But the movie also knows when to cut loose with a chase, a foray into dangerous territory, or a shoot-out, and Anderson -- a veteran of horror and suspense, with films like The Machinist, Transsiberian, and The Call under his belt -- responds with crisp, tight, economical filmmaking.
For Brad Anderson, the film is a triumphant return to form reminding me just how strong a filmmaker the Next Stop Wonderland , Session 9 , The Machinist and Transsiberian director can be.
Beirut is a competently directed espionage thriller located centered on a host of high-ranking Americans working out the Civil War in the titular foreign territory, but director Brad Anderson (most known for the underappreciated Christian Bale gem The Machinist, bringing to life a script by Tony Gilroy that sat on a shelf for 25 years due to marketability restraints and other such nonsense reasons that recent hits like Best Picture Argo have made irrelevant) leaves a highly intriguing dynamic underdeveloped.
But the issue is not his script; rather, it's The Machinist director Anderson's reliance on the hackneyed sepia tone and constant call to prayer that is cinematic shorthand for "somewhere in the Middle East."
Although Beirut probably sometimes confuses complexity of plot with insight, director Brad Anderson (The Machinist) keeps the story moving.
Dwayne Johnson's movie career is firmly in its video game phase, after the roaring success of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and now Rampage (PG-13), based on the '80s arcade rage.
Writer Tony Gilroy ( Michael Clayton , Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ) has fashioned his hot-button tale utilizing real places and incidents for inspiration even if the narrative itself is a fictional one.
Lazy, cheap characterization is met by convoluted plotting, but the worst thing about Beirut — from director Brad Anderson ( The Call ) and writer Tony Gilroy ( Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ) — is that it wants to be about the political realities of the Middle East but cannot be bothered to center a single character who isn’t American, and doesn’t offer the perspective of anyone Lebanese.
Having penned the initial Bourne trilogy, 2007’s Michael Clayton , and of course Rogue One: A Star Wars Story , Beirut screenwriter Tony Gilroy is certainly not afraid to get down and dirty with the intricate minutiae and the detailed machinations of complex stories.
Directed with skillful precision by Brad Anderson and scripted (more than 20 years ago, as a matter of fact) by the premium-talent Tony Gilroy (“Michael Clayton,” the “Bourne” trilogy, “Rogue One”), “Beirut” is a tense and ever-twisting rescue mission story set against the backdrop of a city ravaged by violence perpetuated by multiple entities, all of them concerned only with their self-interests, the innocent citizens be damned.
Directed by episodic-TV veteran Brad Anderson and written by political thrill-rider Tony Gilroy (he penned Michael Clayton , several Bourne movies, and the recent Rogue One ), the movie doesn’t see her that way, but it doesn’t know quite what to do with a female costar, either—especially if she isn’t Jessica Chastain.