Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant – Review
RUNTIME, RATING
Written by Guy Ritchie and Ivan Atkinson & Marn Davies
Directed by Guy Ritchie
**NOTE: You can read Mark’s review below then listen as he and Ryan discuss the movie in more depth (along with a discussion of To Catch a Killer). Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST.**
Synopsis:
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant follows US Army Sergeant John Kinley and Afghan interpreter Ahmed. After an ambush, Ahmed goes to Herculean lengths to save Kinley’s life. When Kinley learns that Ahmed and his family were not given safe passage to America as promised, he must repay his debt by returning to the war zone to retrieve them before the Taliban hunts them down first.
As a veteran, I’m pre-disposed to enjoy films like the one going in. Not coincidentally, I also find myself being more critical on them than perhaps other critics might be (see our reviews of such films as Cherry, Breaking, and Dunkirk).
That said, I was surprised going into this one that Guy Ritchie of all people had decided to do a film about American troops in Afghanistan, especially in light of the disastrous withdrawal in 2021.
What I mean by that is that one doesn’t choose to make a movie on this subject, this close to an event, if one doesn’t feel they have something important to say. Guy Ritchie, being from the UK, doesn’t necessarily strike me as either A) overly militaristicly inclined, or B) rabidly pro- or anti-American.
So I figured he has something specific to say on this one, right?
Lending credence to that supposition is the fact that the studio has emplasized that the film’s title is not simply The Covenant, but Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant.
I believe this is the first time Ritchie has made a film with a vanity tag on it like this.
So clearly, Ritchie is invested in this story, on that we should be able to agree.
As I have said, I’m more predisposed to enjoy movies like this, and I can safely say I enjoyed it more than some of my fellow critics, who perhaps found the story a bit thin, or the drama not up to snuff, or whathaveyou, I enjoyed the film for its depiction of the brotherhood between soldiers and the intense loyalty that personal sacrifice engenders.
Add into it the fact we are still so close to the actual debacle in Afghanistan, and I found the film to be a timely reminder of what nations (specifically my own) ask of their troops (and in this case, their allies) and how often that service is rewarded with nothing but a shrug.
On that note, Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant worked for me.
Gyllenhaal really presents the posture of a nearly broken man, wracked with a soldier’s loyalty and survivor’s guilt, and Dar Salim radiates the strength of a man of conviction, even in the face of adversity no one should ever have to face.
The two play off one another very well, and the action scenes are incredible.
So, if you find yourself feeling as I do about films more often than note, check out
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant is in theaters now and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Dar Salim, Antony Starr, Alexander Ludwig, Bobby Schofield, with Emily Beecham and Jonny Lee Miller.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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