I’m sorry to disagree with the five or six sniping naysayers out there, but HE agrees with Variety‘s Owen Gleiberman and the Critical Drinker about Alejandro Monteverde‘s Sound of Freedom, which I saw last night at the AMC Sono8.
This is an entirely decent, well-honed, approvable, maturely-judged, non-exploitive genre film about a solemn, real-life good guy (Tim Ballard, played by Jim Caviezel) struggling to save kids from south-of-the-border sex traffickers, and two kids in particular.
The mere thought of young tykes being used as sex slaves is obviously enough to make anyone’s skin crawl or stomach turn, but the film doesn’t subject you to anything even semi-explicit, thank God — it’s all implied. (Not that this implication makes Sound an easy sit — it’s not.)
Nonetheless child trafficking is real and widespread and the film (which was shot five years ago) is reflecting statistical reality as far as I’m able to discern.
You don’t have to be a rightwinger to accept or recognize that Sound of Freedom is dealing straight cards, but there’s a tendency, I’ve noticed, among lefty critics to put it down because of the bizarre QAnon associations. I too have a problem with wacko righties and their “Pizzagate” conspiracy theories. But the lean and mean Sound of Freedom feels steady and subdued and un-fraught with cliche. No shoot-outs, only one ultra-violent confrontation, no feeling of any sort of Mel Gibson-like fetish for blood and bruises.
Ballard is easily Caviezel’s best role since The Passion of the Christ (’04), and the basis of his finest performance in 19 years. And Bill Camp has a juicy supporting role as Vampiro, a former bad guy who’s looking to atone for past sins. He’s always smoking cigars and constantly slurping liquor, but his heart is in the right place.
I catch films at the Sono8 from time to time, and one of things I like about going there is that there are almost always acres of open seats. I’ve rarely attended a showing that was even half-full. Except for last night, that is. I attended a 6:50 pm show (the actual film starting at 7:15), and every last seat was filled except for the front-row seat that I’d reserved. This means something.