“The Covenant” Review
Dar Salim and Jake Gyllenhaal star in Guy Ritchie’s “The Covenant” as an interpreter and U.S. Army Sergeant whose bond is put to the ultimate test amid the War on Terror.
While Guy Ritchie excels in making films centered on quick-talking modern British criminals like “Snatch” and “The Gentlemen,” he has taken risks and expanded to other genres. Some have played out well like “Sherlock Holmes” and “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” while others, like “Aladdin” and “Swept Away” haven’t been as fortunate. Some films just naturally gel with Ritchie’s aggressively intelligent style. Not only is “The Covenant” a film that is perfectly married to Ritchie, but it’s among his finest work.
Set in 2018, Sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) leads a platoon of troops assigned to track down and destroy Taliban caches of weapons in Afghanistan during the United States’ occupation of the nation. After his interpreter is killed, Kinley is assigned a new one named Ahmed (Dar Salim), who proves that he’s more than just the guy who turns English into Dari. During a Taliban attack, Kinely’s entire platoon is wiped out and he himself is wounded. However, Ahmed carries Kinely many miles to safety. Now back at home, Kinely decided to go back into Taliban controlled territory to save Ahmed and his family and to bring all of them to The United States in a race-against-time one-man mission.
While there have been a few films made in relation to the United States’ War on Terror, this is the first film that rightfully points out the importance of Afghani interpreters. If you know anyone who served in combat in Afghanistan, then you’ll know just how important people like Ahmed were in keeping the lives of these soldiers safe. The bond that Americans and interpreters shared is one of the most important in recent military history and “The Covenant” accurately and beautifully captures this relationship.
Jake Gyllenhaal brings such a powerful intensity to this role and his visual emotion is captivating. While he doesn’t necessarily give his emotions away while in combat, what he does reveal is enough to see the humanity behind an instrument of war. But it’s Dar Salim who truly commands the film. While John Kinley’s quest to bring Ahmed to safety is engaging, it only becomes a plot point for the last third of the film. The period of time where Kinley is unconscious and infirmed is where Ahmed shows his dedication with minimal dialogue as he carries his friend across the landscape.
The unbreakable connection of these two is well constructed, well acted and well executed as you begin to see these two as brothers. However, the viewer, Kinley and Ahmed seem to be the only people who recognize this. When the film ends, it reminds the audience that, despite “The Covenant” being a fictional story, the interpreters of the Afghanistan occupation are all too real and thousands of them were left behind when the United States pulled out. The film is a crying voice for people like Ahmed. People that put their lives on the line to take on the Taliban are now hiding from them. What will we do?
Along with a powerful message and relationship, Guy Ritchie brings his usual flair for action to “The Covenant” although it’s a more realistic kind of violence. In this film, it feels Ritchie is restraining himself. Normally, when a director as stylish as Ritchie holds back, it’s a bad thing. However, Ritchie knows that this isn’t a witty crime film starring British street toffs. For “The Covenant,” he keeps the best parts of his recognizable style intact for this film. His script is full of punchy lines and the film relishes his inventive camera work.
In many of Ritchie’s films, there’s an incredible sense of tension and “The Covenant” pushes it even further. The entire film has you on edge for the safety of its two protagonists and it clearly establishes a brutal reality that these characters exist in. Even when the film gives you a moment to breathe, it’s quick to jump back into suspense. With Ritchie’s direction and James Herbert’s breakneck editing, “The Covenant” is a visceral experience that captures the same essence as “Zero Dark Thirty” and “American Sniper.”
As America contends with the messy and muddled nature of our 20 years in Afghanistan, it’s important to know that, along with the faults of nations and the military industrial complex, ordinary people, ordinary Americans took part in this conflict and many of them would have died in the desert if not for the bonds that comprise “The Covenant.” It’s a fine film and one that I hope lasts.
