The Front Line (2006)

Very well executed

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

The world is changing. Ireland used to be a place where people starved and dispersed around the globe in hope of a better life. Today people from troubled faraway lands come to Ireland to seek sanctuary. But sometimes there is no sanctuary to be found, the perils are following wherever we go. This powerful movie was advertised as a thriller, but the thrills that this story provides in abundance are of a different kind.The suffering of genocide victims in Congo or any other place on earth is unimaginable. Hollywood with its contrivances can not possibly match the shocking occurrences that life can impose on some poor souls. The Irish filmmakers took a different path, of compassion and sorrow and it filled our hearts with sincere emotions. Most of all thanks to a amazing performance of little known Eriq Ebouaney. His quiet, dignified presence spoke more than a million words.

What starts off looking like a routine action thriller about a bank heist gradually becomes something much more. Eriq Ebouaney is a security guard at a bank, whose family is kidnapped to force him to assist in the robbery.The film is in many respects a revisiting of the John Wayne/John Ford classic The Searchers, in that the viewer gradually realizes that the ostensible plot (the bank robbery) is not really at the center of the film. Just as in The Searchers, where the film is really about Wayne's search to find his own humanity and not his niece who has been captured by the Comanches, so too in The Front Line, Ebouaney's pursuit to rescue his family is his search to find his own redemption as a human being. Over the course of the film, because of the fine performances and direction, we are drawn into Ebouaney's internal pain and love, and we almost want to say to him "Be at peace. Your soul is good." This is a remarkable and moving film. Successful on many levels. Ebouaney's performance is stunning. The plot, which begins as a bank robbery, becomes a story that is breathtakingly beautiful, powerful, and unforgettable.

Prior to watching I expected maybe a 5. It was worth at least an 8.5, and the surprise factor alone justifies the additional 0.5. Brilliant. I'd like to see the film on DVD ASAP. I note a few comments against this film which I don't see as justified - most especially "Major_Movie_Star"'s comment on the "racist cleaner/maintenance-man". This came across to me as a very good portrayal of stereotyping, followed by empathy, so the transition was totally believable, but i guess that depends on how much pain you've been through. Personally I can relate directly to the loss felt by many of the characters in this film, and I thought the attention to detail here, especially giving the Walkman to the child towards the end, was brilliant. This will be a definite buy for me.

I saw this movie as one that tried both to entertain and to be political. This mix could be dangerous in the sense that both of these goals very well could be ruined. But I think that the movie succeeded on both accounts.Joe Yumba is a black man who arrives to Ireland from Congo and is granted permission to stay and find work to his joy and relief. He seems honest but at the same time you get the feeling that he is hiding something. He is very soon put to the test as the local mafia wants to exploit him to rob the bank where he has found work as a security guy. Through the story that follows you slowly get to know what he has been through in Congo.In some respects it resembles many action movies but the characters in this one are more vibrant and believable than what you are used to in the Hollywood productions and this is really what makes this movie stand out.I give this one 7/10.Regards Simon