Great acting by Kidman and Penn. A nice thriller about a fake assassination of an African dictator who wants to secure the hold over his country.

I have completely forgotten the story since watching this over 15 years ago. It was like watching it for the first time. A really good watch for an evening, after work.

The saddest realisation for me was how good Nicole Kidman looked, before she ruined her face with Botox. :rolling_eyes:

One thing to be said about Sidney Pollack : He delivered. Here, he's of course helped by a great cast, with Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn who do have a great interactions on the screen. The cinematography by Darius Khondji is also excellent, and we have seldom seen inside shots of the United Nations building. All in all a solid story, well served by a good cast of main and supporting actors. A good way to spend an evening :)

I watched this film around the time it first came out and I remember absolutely loving it. 17 or so years on and I have just watched it again - my thoughts haven't changed one bit. I immediately want to rewatch again.

Not only does this film keep you guessing and in suspense, it gives off this almost majestic and spiritual essence of Africa, despite the film's foundation being it's genocide. I think that's a really powerful thing to pull-off.

There is also something beautiful in the melancholy of the "love interests" not getting together at the end.

A well thought out story weakly executed 6.1/10

Nothing against Nicole Kidman but I think actual african actors would have helped this story a lot

" kepéla "
It means standing on opposite sides of the river.

Everyone who loses somebody wants revenge on someone, on God if they can't find anyone else. But in Africa, in Matobo,
the " Ku " believe that the only way to end grief is to save a life.
If someone is murdered, a year of mourning ends with a ritual that we call the Drowning Man Trial.
There's an all-night party beside a river. At dawn, the killer is put in a boat. He's taken out on the water and he's dropped. He's bound so that he can't swim.
The family of the dead then has to make a choice.
They can let him drown or they can swim out and save him.
The " Ku " believe that if the family lets the killer drown, they'll have justice but spend the rest of their lives in mourning.
But if they save him, if they admit that life isn't always justice, that very act can take away their sorrow.

sssslllllooooowww

2 hours 8 minutes and 42 seconds of my life I am never getting back again.

Aside from the annoying and misplaced attraction of the main characters the movie was quite interesting.