The Mauritanian – A Powerful Yet Uneven Legal Drama

With the 2021 Oscar submission deadline extended to the end of February, expect plenty of late comers hoping to join the conversation. The Mauritanian is the latest film hoping to join the Oscar conversation. Whether that will actually happen remains to be seen but in its own right, it’s a powerful drama that may not add anything new to the conversation. Based on a recent true story of the fight to release of a Guantanamo Bay detainee, the film is still a timely one despite coming off the heels of 2019’s The Report, a film that arguably tackled this subject mater a little bit better. Nonetheless, the film carried that same kind of intensity though it couldn’t quite sustain it throughout its 2+ hour running time. It’s major selling point, however, will be its excellent performances from Jodie Foster and Tahar Rahim (and one distractingly bad accent), some ingenious editing, and some inventive cinematography and that’s more than enough.

Based on the NY Times best-selling memoir “Guantánamo Diary” by Mohamedou Ould Slahi, The Mauritanian dramatizes Slahi’s (Rahim) fight for freedom after being detained and imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay for years without ever being charged. When it looked like hope was lost, attorney Nancy Hollander (Foster) and her associate Teri Duncan (Shailene Woodley) came across his case and decided to represent him. Meanwhile, military prosecutor, Lt. Colonel Stuart Couch (Cumberbatch and his distractingly bad accent) was tasked as the prosecution. From that point one, both sides had to acquaint themselves with the circumstances surrounding Slahi’s case which was certainly as simple as it seemed. Having to seemingly fight the government at every turn, uncovering the truth proved to be a real challenge, Living in a heated post-9/11 world, most of the United States was on edge and much has been reported about their subsequent response to the attack and the controversial methods they employed in their investigation into those who they believed responsible for said attack.

A large part of The Mauritanian was the differing perspectives and evolving perceptions amongst Slahi’s legal team and that of Couch as they both undergo their own investigations while preparing their respective cases. The contrast of what they knew or were learning and the truth was striking as that gap narrowed over the course of the film. Slahi’s elaborate written account of his experiences as he retold them for Hollander and Duncan were not always easy to hear as the film depicted these in dreamlike sequences though they were nothing like dreams, narrowing the aspect ratio and playing with the cinematography to allow viewers to truly focus on what was happening. Over time, it was clear that those experiences didn’t quite line up with the so called government narrative about him. Though the original perception of Slahi created some doubt about what we were seeing and hearing, it became clear that something more was going on here. Couch’s preparation treaded similar lines as he approached the case from a different angle.

Those familiar with Slahi’s story will essentially know how The Mauritanian ends as despite whatever conclusion each side determined, there was no combatting the inevitable. This point, however, was where the film fell off the rails and got silly as it didn’t seem to know what to with that realization thus couldn’t quite figure out the ending. Nevertheless, what ultimately keeps the film engaging was its great performances, especially by Foster and Rahim as Hollander and Slahi respectively. Foster was strong as the principled attorney who remained steadfast in her belief and was propelled by her pursuit of justice, not letting anyone or anything get in her way. It was easy to connect with that energy and it worked well alongside Rahim’s sensational and humanizing performance as Slahi. He was the best part of the film as his emotional arc and nuance as a tortured man both physically and emotionally given hope were powerful to watch. The end result may be known but it did not make it hard to connect with him on an emotional level with the pain and the anger he surely felt as a result. Finally, even with a distractingly bad accent, Cumberbatch was solid in a small role.

At the end of the day, The Mauritanian is a powerful drama and a fringe award contender that is unlikely to make too many waves but is still more than worth the watch.

still courtesy of Elevation Pictures

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.