Kandahar Movie Review — Sucharita Tyagi
A big-budget, big-action, big-movie star lead project.
And yet feels like an Indie? Matlab thodi big scale promotions bhi honi chahiye thi, no?
Hey y’all, my name is Sucharita. Today we’re talking about Gerard Butler, Ali Fazal Starrrer, Rick Roman Waugh’s movie, Kandahar, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Gerard Butler is Tom Harris, jisko American CIA hires kabhi kabhi to carry out secret international missions, like blow up a nuclear reactor, no big deal. An ex-MI6 agent, Tom increasing frustration ke saath, par kaam poore kar de raha hai, until he decides to stop once and for, ghar jaana hai, family already bikhar gayi hai, kuch toh sahi karoon. Obviously, his plans come to naught when beech mein ONE LAST mission ke liye his handler asks him to go to Afghanistan, bohot paise milenge phir retire ho jaana. Of course, everything that could go wrong with the mission, does.
Iss hi hafte, doosre bade streaming platform par, Kandhar se takra rahi hai, Extraction 2. A major action movie star with a non-American accent. The special agent who tries to give up this life, but can’t. His wife has left him because he left for Afghanistan and the people who fight for him becoming his chosen family.
Parallel yahaan draw kar rahi hoon establish karne ki dono filmon ke blue-print kinda-sorta similar hone ke baavjood, ek doosre se inki treatment KITNI juda hai.While that comes with all the bells and whistles of a major Hollywood production, Kandahar is the movie this weekend with something to say about the state of the world, about the futility of war, and the wretchedness of humanity.
Gerard Butler ke character Tom Harris ka jitna generic naam hai, utna generic character bhi, which was not a good place to start tbh. Accurately being able to predict the larger beats of a story, is not the ideal way to interact with it. But this changed, about 30 minutes into the screenplay when the writing began to bring into sharper focus that what’s AROUND Tom, larger commentary of writer and Army veteran Mitchell LaFortune emerges, who by the way himself was deployed to Afghanistan 3 times, then became an academic scholar before turning to write. While the writing may not be ENTIRELY biographical, considering Tom Harris here is nearing retirement age, and the writer seems much younger, AND the movie is set in the last few years AFTER American soldiers had retreated from Afghanistan, I assume his observation from the time he served are what ground Kandahar, when after the obvious it begins to slowly move into rumination. Tables turn, the hero now needs the extraction.
Not gonna lie, I was concerned with the yellow tint, an almost certain giveaway the film is relying on superficial clutches to make its point. But I actually settled in, and I’m not saying this because of the Indian bias, when Ali Fazal’s character, the Pakistani agent Kahil Nassir showed up. With my heart in my mouth, I watched his opening scene, talking with corrupt Taliban leadership, no honor among thieves even, and I started to see the movie’s attempts to steer clear of stereotypes, especially when dealing with characters reduced to either their race or social situations. Kahil is a weird one, he implores his Talibani friend to be more feminist. But like, he’s friends with the Taliban, how can you empathize with him? When his boss calls him for urgent work, Kahil reminds him he’s on a 2-day leave, another time in the MIDDLE of a mission asking to be posted to London or Paris the next time. None of these are played for laughs, this boke-riding, smooth-talking, intelligence agent is just doing a job for a paycheck, kind of like Tom Harris himself.
Yahaan aakar film PHIR aur genhri jaakar ape nasal mudde par aati hai jab Tom says “Ancient wars were fought for spoils. Modern wars aren’t caught to be won.” and Tom’s Afghan translator Mohammed aka Mo played by Navid Negahban, becomes the real center of the narrative. Mo has successfully managed to take refuge in the US with his family, and against his explicit wishes is brought back for one more assignment. In a wonderful scene, after they’ve managed to escape an attack, a tired-looking Tom tells Mo about his family and shows him a picture of his daughter, he’s defeated and perhaps feeling sorry for himself. Mo then tells him yes he’s happy to be living in Baltimore now, but they didn’t escape Afghanistan without loss, his son died here, immediately changing not just Tom’s outlook toward the situation, but the viewer’s as well. While no one wins a modern war, it definitely results in a loss. Losers, but no winners.
Kandahar has a lot going for, once you overcome the initial bump, and are generous with the film. Iranian officials following orders, Americans playing God, Afghan children growing up in a living hell, the movie’s gaze toward almost everyone is empathetic, exploring what has caused these people to become who they are. Despite all the violence on display, the film is steadfastly anti-war.
Where the movie fumbles, is its lackluster, almost dull action sequences, and honestly Gerard Butler. While he is perfectly serviceable as Tom Harris, he exists in the imbalance between huge movie star, and not being the main character here he thinks he is. I could sense a dissonance between the writing and everything it was attempting to say, and Rick Roman Waugh’s sporadic need to give it Hollywood action movie treatment, in dono ke beech kahee phass gayi shayad yeh film, unable to pick a lane.
But at least it has one senior American intelligence saying “fuck the authority” to someone within his own system for a change. Movie Prime Video par hai, dekh kar bataao.
So, on a scale of 1 to 10, Kandahar is……4 deshon ki fauj, 1 shehar ki ore badhti hui, 30 ghante ke andar extraction point par, means it IS kaafi dense, which again, WILL throw you off, I was kaafi confused beech mein, par attention span ko sametkar zara koshish karna thread pakad mein aa jaayega.
