Civic Duty (2006)

Synopsis: Terry Allen (Peter Krause) is a true blue American! And like all good laid off American accountants, he spies on his Middle-Eastern neighbor who he thinks is a terrorist with pretty much no good reason. Sounds reasonable, we all suspect our neighbors of fool play and they probably suspect us. But you see, Terry is haredcore and when things go from bad to worse on the home front with his wife Marla (Kari Matchett), he turns all his hatred towards this new neighbor. Convinced he's a terrorist and with no help from the FBI, Terry takes it on himself to perform his civi duty and stop terrorism once in for all. But sometimes, the only way to fight terror is with terror itself!

Should You Watch It? I'm a bit iffy on this one. Personally I quite enjoyed it. It had a nice progression of a normal guy who goes from being this ideal husband into a crazy vigilante. But on the other hand, nothing really happens and nothing really gets resolved. Having said that, this is a movie which poses a question on society and the war on terror more than it tries to be an entertaining product. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Despite the guy with the gun in the poster, it's definitely more of an intellectual film.

Things to Watch Out For: Most of the movies nowadays really hide their character arcs and all that theme bs. But this movie focuses on that and one of the things it uses is the television. Sure, sometimes it's annoying to be watching a TV while watching a movie, but it works in this film sorta because Terry is constantly subjected to CNN's attaack on terrorism which this movie portrays a form of brainwashing. That's an interesting little side note for all of you who get bored with watching a guy spy on another guy for like 80 percent of the film.

Things You Don't Expect: I had a real tough time with sympathizing with the main character. I mean, all the elements are there to make him the hero and make the audience want to see him pull through but it's just missing something. His arc is deserved I guess, but there is just something about the ending that bugs me. Also, there is a musical interclude that plays during all the spying and CSI moments in the film which is kinda cliche but it works. If it works for CSI then why not!

Final Comments:
Story: 7.5 (Jeff Renfroe)
Direction: 8.0 (Andrew Joiner)
Acting: 7.0
Cinematography: 7.6
Music/Sound: 7.0

Final Score: 7.4