An eye-catching cast leads the upcoming legal drama “The Mauritanian”. Jodie Foster, Tahar Rahim, Benedict Cumberbatch, Shailene Woodley, and Zachary Levi tell the troubling story of Mohamedou Ould Salahi who languished in the Guantanamo Bay prison camp for 14 years following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He was held without charge and without a trial. The film is directed by Kevin Macdonald and will finally get its release following several COVID-19 related delays.
The first trailer dropped this morning and it leaves a pretty mixed impression. On one hand it’s filled with lines of stilted made-for-the-screen dialogue. On the other hand there is an undoubtedly rich story to be told and (with the exception of Cumberbatch’s hilariously exaggerated accent) the cast looks up to it. It all comes down to the script and if it can avoid the temptation to preach and let its story do the talking.
“The Mauritanian” currently has a February 19, 2021 release date. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
Keith & the Movies 
Sharp insights drawn after watching the trailer, Keith. Cumber…’s accent is all over the place in this! I’ve seen Rahim in at least a couple other movies and really like him. I hope they are trying to tell the actual story of the fiasco of Guanta… It’s a place most would rather forget about, especially the 40 prisoners still being held there. I’ll watch it just to see how they present the information.
Same here. Anxious to see if they do the story service. Real talent involved so this could turn out pretty good. We shall see.
Keith, Hans at Hanspostcard is starting a movie review challenge in January, where a group of us will write rotating movie reviews for maybe 10 rounds (I don’t have all of the details yet.) He’s looking at 10 or so of us doing it, so you’d have to write one every 10 days or so. It starts in January. Might you be interested in participating? In your case you have reviewed so many already it might just be a matter of picking from your database and reposting.
I just might. I’ll check in on the details once everything sloooows down a bit. LOL
OK. We won’t be starting until January, but if you want to be kept in the informational loop please send me an email at ms_jade_li@hotmail.com
Sounds great. Thanks.
Sad about Cumber, he’s a good actor on the whole, but better at being ‘English’. I’d still see this for the history of it. If they don’t Hollywood it up.
Exactly – “Hollywood it up” is what worries me most. Hopefully they keep it focused and deliver the goods.
Can we get rid these 5-10 second previews of the trailer before the actual trailer?
I’m really getting tired of that. As for the whole thing, it does look interesting as I like the cast and I don’t have much issue with Benedict Cumberbatch’s accent at all.
In all seriousness, fuck Guantanamo Bay. That is a symbol of everything that is wrong with this country.
I too HATE those annoying intros to the trailers! Ugh….
Sounds interesting.