Guy Ritchies The Covenant
I absolutely loved The Man from U.N.C.L.E. *the cool but abrasive chemistry between Cavill and Hammer is undeniable* and yes I will say it I even enjoy King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, I think that movie is a little undervalued and is just an all-round entertaining movie that somehow for me completely works in a Lock Stock mould and I have always been a huge fan of Charlie Hunham since Green Street. Blah blah but I digress.
What The Covenant does and does oh so well though is pretty much strip away almost everything you would so typically expect from a Ritchie movie, the end result turns out a much richer back to basics and surprisingly heart-wrenching effort because of it. There's no reliance on fancy edits, soundtracks or constant super slow motion and when there is anything that comes close it feels entirely warranted at the time though is still played down so much that the movie doesn't enter Michael Bay territory and it still all works wonderfully.
This very much in fact almost feels like what you would class as guerilla filmmaking and one more time I will say it just works - the fact this was a massive flop in theaters still kind of doesn't surprise me all too much but I do think it is perfect home viewing material. If you are at all familiar with real-life events such as the Tongo Tongo ambush and so many more similar stories this movie will bring about a very stark telling of what these kind of soldiers -
these kinds of men might have gone through.
To close I have to add that Jake Gyllenhaal is of course fabulous in this too, he might not be the primary focus all of the time in the manner you expect someone as gifted as Jake to be his usual gift of adding gravitas is consistently present still. Just a wonderful no additional thrills-required movie that once gets its wheels turning drags you deep and it's one that you should enter with no expectations to get the most out of.
9 out of 10
Building the future, and keeping the past alive - are one and the same thing.