GUY RITCHIE’S THE COVENANT Review

"Guy Ritchie’s best movie in quite some time, maybe because he handles the subject matter as seriously as it deserves to be handled."

Let’s get the smirking and snickering about the title of Guy Ritchie’s new movie, Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant, out of the way, so we can set that aside and move on. Okay, we good? Whatever the reasoning was for that odd title decision, it’s still far better than (this is a real movie title), Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, which is very likely to end up on my Terrible 15 list if I write one this year.

Fortunate-ly for Ritchie (ha ha), The Covenant is not only good, but it’s actually kind of great, as Ritchie goes for a straight drama that feels very much like it’s based on a true story ala Lone Survivor and Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper. In fact, this came from out of an original idea from Ritchie that actually thrives for such authenticity, it very well could be a true story. (Apparently, Ritchie got the idea for it from the plight of real Afghan interpreters, trying to get out of the country.)

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Staff Sergeant John Kinley, who we meet just as one of his men is blown up by a Taliban explosive. His company is soon paired with a new interpreter, Ahmed (Dar Salim), who is far more opinionated than Kinley prefers to see from his subordinates, but Ahmed ends up being right more than once.  Ahmed ends up being pivotal in Kinley’s company finding a Taliban hideout before they’re swarmed by Taliban militia ready to kill all the infidels. Kinley and Ahmed are the only survivors – Kinley just barely – so Ahmed drags his prone body across the Afghan wasteland before he’s medivaced back to the States. Months later, Kinley discovers Ahmed has been in hiding with his family as the Taliban has made him public enemy #1 for saving Kinley. Whether it’s a guilty conscience or just doing the right thing, Kinley spends his recory time trying to get Ahmed the visa he needs, but first, he has to find him and that means returning to the country that nearly killed him.

As I watched The Covenant, I kept thinking about what a great story it was, convincing myself it must be based on a book, either written by Kinley or Ahmed himself. Except that neither man exists in real life, and this never really happened. As with Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor (which was based on a true story), it might seem outrageous that Ahmed would go to such great lengths to save a man who has been so condescending to him, but clearly, he takes his role seriously, as much as he hates the Taliban for killing his son. 

What’s impressive is that despite this being a fictionalized story, the basis in real Afghani interpreters and their plight in trying to get visas to America after helping out the troops is a real one. It almost bears reminding that Ritchie is a wealthy British filmmaker with no known connection to this material, yet he finds a way to create a story that’s quite reverential to the American soldiers who gave their lives in Afghanistan trying to quell the Taliban, as well as the interpreters who risked dying just for helping the Americans. 

Often, with a war movie like this that involves a lot of firefights, another director might try to use a lot of flashy camerawork and editing to enhance that action. Sure, Ritchie might have done the same in the past, but he shows tremendous restraint, while also keeping the tensions high, aided by his regular composer, Christopher Benstead.

Gyllenhaal continually proves he’s one of Hollywood’s strongest dramatic actors, who puts his all into every role, and Salim is well-matched with him. I wasn’t really familiar with Salim, but he brings so much to the role of Ahmed that this feels like far more than the “white savior” movie it surely will be criticized for being. There are plenty of other smaller but significant supporting roles around them, such as Alexander Ludwig and Jonny Lee Miller. (It’s a little vexing that Ritchie goes so far to introduce all of Kinley’s men and rank in the opening scene, with very few of them really having much impact on the overall story.)

This is Guy Ritchie’s best movie in quite some time, maybe because he handles the subject matter as seriously as it deserves to be handled. Sure, it seems less like a “Guy Ritchie movie” than any of his other recent films, but maybe that’s what was needed to kick him back into high gear.

Rating: 8/10 

Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant opens nationwide on Friday, April 21.