The Mauritanian (2021) Review

This film has had quite a bit of buzz about it and came to Amazon last week and I have now had a chance to watch it and here is my review for the film The Mauritanian. The premise of the film sees a man attempt to fight for his freedom when he is detained in Guantanamo Bay for years without any charges against him. 

Main Character  

It seems like that 2021 is a very good year for Tahar Rahim. After his brilliant outing in BBC show The Serpent he continues that here with one of the best performances of the year and is a performance that should have gained him an Oscar Nomination. He is fantastic here, despite being accused of terrible things, Rahim does a great job in making you feel sympathy for him and caring about the situation that he has been put in. The film explores plenty of his life and it is a good way to show the man underneath the accusation and that is crucial to the film. 

Supporting Characters

Jodie Foster plays the main lawyer representing him and she is good also. Her character has a clear arc and progression in this film and Foster does a good job in showing that and the reasons for her defending her client. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the opposition Lawyer and despite a very thick Virginian accent he is also good. The accent is a bit strange at first but it grew on me as the film progressed, I just liked how the parallels of Foster and Cumberbatch's characters affects the story and adds depth to the people that are seen on film. Shailene Woodley and Zachary Levi are also good in their roles and add plenty when they are on screen. 

Story 

The story is really interesting. There are huge questions of morality and right and wrong which is handled in a very mature but interesting way. The characters are great and really well realised by the performers that it makes you care about this interesting real life tale. But I have one issue which hurt the overall film for me and that was the fact the film spends a long time setting up a trial which we barely see. I love courtroom dramas and I would have happily watched another 30 mins to an hour if it made the film a more complete experience. 

Script

The script is really good, the drama is really well realised and makes you care about the people and the interesting story. But what also surprised me was that this film had little sprinklings of humour and it worked for me with this script maybe also getting ignored of an Oscar nomination. 

Style 

The style of the film is good, it keeps you interested for the majority of the run time and does show the real horrors that happen in this prison and to this man. Though as I said above, I felt like the film could have gone longer and needed a stronger finish. Also this film changes its aspect ratio when in different timelines and I get it for a thematic approach but I just felt it was unnecessary and was a bit jarring. 

Overall 

Overall, The Mauritanian is a great film that should be watched. It has an amazing lead performance and a gripping story and I think this film deserved a bit more recognition from The Academy so don't miss it. 

Rating - 8/10