The Mauritanian is a legal political thriller that for the most part was engaging, especially with Tahar Rahim playing a tortured prisoner very well!!!

Real Rating: 4 Case Files

What I Like:

-The film is all about Tahar Rahim’s portrayal of Mohamedou Ould Salahi, a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay for 14 years as an alleged terrorist, he showed some true emotion of being tortured, missing his family, and not losing hope of getting out of prison, he was pretty good at showing that, especially the scene where he is testifying was a powerful moment
-Usually legal political thrillers can fall flat at times especially with legal jargon that can be hard to follow, but in this film, I thought it flowed very well, explains the legal terms very well, and kept it engaging, kudos to the writing and direction for this film
-The other acting was good enough with Jodie Foster playing Mohamedou’s defense attorney, and seeing her going through the trials and tribulations of being his lawyer, and Benedict Cumberbatch playing the prosecuting attorney, Cumberbatch’s Southern accent was pretty good, and his character development was good

The So So:

-It reminded me a lot of the film The Hurricane where the premise is practically the same, though they are both true stories which I can forgive it for the similarities

What I Didn’t Like:

-The transitions from the flashbacks to the film’s present can be a little confusing
-The first two thirds of the film was good, but it led to a rushed third act where everything goes down fairly quickly without too much time to process

Overall:

As I said before, a lot of legal political films can be slow but this movie, it was not the case. It did a great job of keeping us engaged to the story, not confuse us with all the legal terminology, and some good acting and character development. It may seem a little familiar with the premise of the story, but the way it was executed made it something that I really care about practically from beginning to end. In the end, makes you think about the US’s handling of terrorists, and it could infuriate you, or maybe not be surprised at all. Regardless, the fact that you sympathize with an alleged terrorist shows how good the writing and development is!!!

Real Rating: 4 Case Files