Makes a Better Yahoo News Story Than a Movie

Rating: 5/10 (19 January 2014)

I first saw this movie a few weeks ago out of pure interest. The high ratings and rave reviews intrigued me enough to give it a look see. I knew nothing about this film apart from it being based on "actual events". Now, like any film based on real life events, there's always two sides of the story being told. What those who experienced it say, and what we see on the big screen. Nevertheless, I went into this film with an open mind. Tom Hanks once again proves his range as an actor, although for this film it wasn't as extended as in other roles he's portrayed. The reason I'm giving this movie a 6 out of 10 has nothing to do with any of the performances in this film. Everyone was excellent, including Barkad Abdi, who does incredibly well for his first time on screen ever. The reason for the low score, the story is bland. I understand that not every film needs to have guns blazing, cars exploding, or CGI in every scene to be a good film, this movie is just bland. There are a remote few times where your heart gets racing about how a scene will play out, then you get dragged on for extended periods of time where nothing happens. I mean no disrespect to anyone in this film, nor those who went through this ordeal, but this is just not the type of story you turn into a major motion picture. This is something you read about in 5 paragraphs on a headline article on Yahoo News.