The Covenant movie review

MOVIE TITLE: The Covenant

This Guy Ritchie film is now playing in theaters and on Amazon Prime Video.

RATING: R

LENGTH: 2 hours 3 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: A

IN A NUTSHELL:

I love Guy Ritchie’s classic, stylish movies, so I was curious to see what he would do with a war movie. He worked as the producer, screenwriter, and director. The film follows US Army Sergeant John Kinley and his Afghan interpreter Ahmed in 2018.

The movie is a powerful tribute to the many Afghan interpreters who risked their lives and reputations to serve the US Army. It has everything you want in a war movie: action, drama, emotion, realism, honor, and a lot of heart.

THINGS I LIKED:

I adore Jake Gyllenhaal. He is one of the best actors out there these days, so I figured this movie would be excellent simply due to his performance. I was right. He’s amazing. Will someone please give this guy an Academy Award already? He has been in several award-winning films yet has only been nominated once for Best Supporting Actor in Brokeback Mountain. I don’t think that was even his best performance in a movie! Wait until you see his monologue to his wife in this movie.
Dar Salim also gave an excellent performance. We’re sure to see a lot more of him in future American movies.
Both Jake Gyllenhaal and Jason Wong starred in different Jarhead movies.
The rest of the cast includes Rhys Yates, Sean Sagar, Christian Ochoa Lavernia, Bobby Schofield, Jonny Lea Miller, Emily Beecham, and many more. Everyone did an outstanding job.
I wondered about the title of the movie because there are already quite a few other movies named “The Covenant.” At the end of 2022, Guy Ritchie said he had changed the name of the movie from “The Interpreter” to “The Covenant.” Based on the story, it could have easily been named “The Debt” or “The Commitment”, as Jake Gyllenhaal’s character called it.
Filming was done in Alicante, Spain. I lived in Spain for 2 years!
The musical score by Christopher Benstead is extremely effective.
Great cinematography that captures the rough terrain and lifestyles in Afghanistan.
Lots of action and tension. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.
We get to learn a little bit about Afghan culture.
Keep watching during the final credits to see photos of some of the soldiers and their interpreters. Some of their faces are covered to protect their identity.
The movie is timely, as President Biden recently pulled the American troops out of Afghanistan…in a terribly botched manner, I might add. How he handled the withdrawal of troops was a complete disgrace to our country, but especially to our soldiers and their interpreters over there. His disastrous decisions cost many civilian and military lives, not to mention important equipment and money.
There is some humor, but not too much so as to distract or change the tone of the movie.
Act 3 is way more powerful than Act 1. Act 1 features some of the cliched dialogue seen in a million other Gulf War movies, but Act 3 takes this movie to a whole other level. Incredible.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

There are a couple of CGI moments that weren’t perfect, but I didn’t care.
It would have been amazing if this were a true story. Surely, there are real events similar to what we see in the film.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Profanity, including many F-bombs
Brutal violence with various weapons, as well as hand-to-hand combat
Blood
High dead-body count

THEMES:

Trust
War
Courage
Survival and survivor’s guilt
PTSD
Determination
Pay your debts
Honor

FUNNY LINES:

“I really enjoy not having this conversation.” – Colonel Vokes (Jonny Lee Miller)

INTERESTING LINES:

“I have a hook in me, one you cannot see, but it is there. And you think I have a choice?” – Sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal)
“I’m going to get that man and his family out of the position WE have put him in.” – Sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal)