There is a certain kind of true-life story that ends with footage of the real person involved, usually seen during the closing credits. We see the real Idi Amin at the end of “The Last King of Scotland,” we see the memoirist Augusten Burroughs at the end of “Running With Scissors.”
At the end of “Catch a Fire” we see footage of the real Patrick Chamusso, whose story we have just watched in dramatized form. It is moving to see him.
It is also frustrating, because it’s a reminder of how far short fiction can fall. I found myself wanting to see a documentary about the real Chamusso, a warm and engaging survivor, instead of the rather ordinary movie I’d just witnessed.
The film tells a true horror story of apartheid in South Africa, circa the early 1980s. Chamusso (played by Derek Luke) is working as a foreman at an oil refinery, and doing his best to live within the evil system. He keeps his head down, works hard to support his family, and steers clear of subversive political activity.
And none of that matters, because apartheid rears up to smack him down anyway. Because of a misunderstanding, and his inability to provide an alibi the night of a bombing, the bottom drops out of his world.
Contrasted with Chamusso’s Kafkaesque experience is the life of an anti-terrorist investigator, Nic Vos (Tim Robbins). Vos is responsible for terrible things, but the film works hard to make him believable and rounded. He’s frightened for his own family’s safety, and he feels embattled himself. Of whites in South Africa, he says, “We’re the underdogs. We’re the ones under attack.”
After considerable hardship, Chamusso becomes radicalized despite his previous neutrality. Then we are taken inside the military arm of the ANC, as Chamusso learns to fight the power. (One of the leaders in the anti-apartheid ANC was actually the father of the film’s screenwriter, Shawn Slovo.)
Philip Noyce, the Aussie who previously made politically charged thrillers such as “Clear and Present Danger” and “The Quiet American,” directed this one on location. It’s got its heart and mind in the right place, and it looks spectacular. But as admirable as its intentions are, it simply doesn’t generate much involvement.
Derek Luke, who played the title role in “Antwone Fisher,” is excellent; Robbins is less so. But still, give us the documentary.
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