Catch a Fire
The spark that ignites us, unites us.
Times are tough for black people in Apartheid-era South Africa, but Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke) has his home, his family and a good job at the Secunda Oil Refinery. He wants no part of the anti-Apartheid movement, choosing instead to lead a simple life. On a day when Patrick has a day off work to attend a football game and to secretly visit the son he fathered with his ex-girlfriend, terrorists attempt to blow up the Oil Refinery.
Nic Vos (Tim Robbins), a white policeman striving to maintain order in the face of increasing unrest, arrests Patrick and two black co-workers. During the interrogation, he presents himself as someone who doesn’t use the harsh methods of his fellow cops. To protect his marriage, Patrick hides the alibi that could save him, until his wife Precious is also arrested and beaten.
Patrick emerged a changed man, one who struggles to find his role in the turmoil that threatens his country. Based on a true story.
Member Reviews
Nothing particularly special... - stevenatasha
Although I can't say this movie was bad, it wasn't especially good either. The film gets off to a compelling start, but soon starts to wane a bit as segments of the film drag on longer than they should have. (On the whole, I'd say the movie was too long and would have been better if they'd edited it more proficiently.) Also, I agree with other reviewers who say that, despite being based on a very compelling true story, the film fails to really elicit any serious emotion from its viewers.
On a positive note, I liked how Robbin's character, while still clearly the villain of the film, isn't entirely black and white. Ultimately, I expect most viewers identify with Luke's, not Robbin's, character but I expect that at least some viewers are able to identify with *part* of Robbin's perspective, particularly after his teenage daughter (who declares herself adverse to violence) is forced to shoot and kill a man trying to break into their family's home.
All in all, a lazy afternoon rental - not the best or worst film out there.3 Stars - ladycare
Although this film was based on a true story, I felt it lacked allot of sincerity. This film shocked me. Being from Canada it is hard to understand or grasp that these things actually happen. It was a difficult story to watch knowing that it was based on fact. I felt completely helpless knowing this was going on. Rwanda was another film that shocked me but more so because the brutality was on a larger scale. I think the actors did a great job but I was a little putoff about how shallow Tim Robbins character was. He seemed to accept this as the way things are. He stated to his children that it was thanks to him that things were better. I don’t think things are better at all.Good, but not good enough - Port_Moresby
“Your father is the reason this country is safe,” a little girl is told by her mother, in reference to the fact that her father (Tim Robbins) heads up the investigation of terrorists in apartheid-era South Africa. As we find out, however, people like Robbins are the reason the country is dangerous, a fact that is solidified when a peaceful family man (Derek Luke) is wrongly arrested in connection with a sabotage bombing at the plant where he is foreman. He is beaten, tortured and released, loses his job and is reduced to desperate circumstances, the perfect reason to actually become the violent insurgent that he was falsely accused of being in the first place, which he does. This true-life drama written by Shawn Slovo (A World Apart) is seriously hampered by the fact that it shouldn’t have taken Hollywood so long to tell so relevant a story; it takes place in 1980 and the film lacks a sense of political necessity thirty years after the fact. This isn’t to say that the issues it deals with don’t currently exist, in South Africa or elsewhere, but it zeroes in so specifically on this particular tale, and soft-shoes around the nastier aspects of the story’s reality so much that it ends up lacking quite a lot of emotional impact. Robbins has very little to work with since director Phillip Noyce is more interested in making an action-drama than telling a political story, while Luke is absolutely superb; there’s no indication whatsoever that he is actually American and his performance is incredibly graceful. Look for producer Robyn Slovo in a brief cameo portraying her real-life mother Ruth First (upon whom Barbara Hershey’s character in A World Apart was based).
Member Reviews
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Nothing particularly special... - stevenatasha
Although I can't say this movie was bad, it wasn't especially good either. The film gets off to a compelling start, but soon starts to wane a bit as segments of the film drag on longer than they should have. (On the whole, I'd say the movie was too long and ...3 Stars - ladycare
Although this film was based on a true story, I felt it lacked allot of sincerity. This film shocked me. Being from Canada it is hard to understand or grasp that these things actually happen. It was a difficult story to watch knowing that it was based on ...Good, but not good enough - Port_Moresby
“Your father is the reason this country is safe,” a little girl is told by her mother, in reference to the fact that her father (Tim Robbins) heads up the investigation of terrorists in apartheid-era South Africa. As we find out, however, people like Robbins ...