FILM REVIEW: 7 Days in Entebbe (2018)

Directed by Josa Padilha

* *

Personally, I like transgression. I like seeing angles not usually explored in art, movies especially – everyone has a story after all. If anything, take me to a place I don’t want to go. As difficult as it may be to sit through, your point will probably get across a lot better. But for a film to humanize revolutionary terrorists in a Post-9/11 world is a very risky move, and this is an element of 7 Days in Entebbe. I applaud the courage, and I am perfectly willing to see this angle, but the film must deliver. Ultimately, 7 Days in Entebbe didn’t. On top of being unfocused, it is also just plain dull, and a riveting story like the Air France hijacking of 1976 isn’t deserving of such mediocrity.

History lesson time: in 1976, four revolutionaries – two Palestinian, two German – hijacked Air France Flight 139. They stopped in Entebbe International Airport, holding 248 civilians hostage. On behalf of a political/ideological agenda from Palestine, the terrorists demand $5 million, as well as the release of Palestinian militants currently imprisoned in Israel.

There are two central parties in 7 Days in Entebbe that drive the plot: the German hijackers and the Israeli politicians, both of which are in conflicted positions. The latter are divided whether they want to negotiate or take military action. As for the Germans; as the hostage crisis progresses, they begin to witness actions from the Palestinians that they didn’t agree to, particularly when the Israelis are separated from the rest of the hostages (in perhaps the tensest scene in the movie) – one can only guess what Palestinians have in store for a group of Israelis.

In spite of the stale feel throughout the movie, watching these German revolutionaries at least kept me interested. I mentioned earlier that 7 Days in Entebbe presents terrorists in a human light –the two Germans are exclusively given this treatment (played wonderfully by Rosamund Pike and Daniel Bruhl). They are treated like people, but the film never apologizes for their actions. They assert their authority in the situation, but open up and express sympathy to certain hostages (albeit, through gestures and mannerisms instead of spoken words). They occasionally even find themselves in physical conflict with the Palestinians.

As fascinating as this was, it wasn’t enough to make up for the rest of the movie. As a matter of fact, even the scenes with these two characters got less interesting because the movie got progressively less interesting. The film hits a roadblock that it just can’t maneuver around, and I think that roadblock is this film’s inability to focus. It wants to be this human portrayal of internally conflicted terrorists, but it also wants to be a traditional account of a significant event.

This is complete with scenes of white-collar Israeli politicians uncertain about the proper actions to take. Adding to the fact that these scenes are scoff-inducing due to just how unoriginal they tend to be, they are borderline grueling in 7 Days in Entebbe due to the clunky writing. The script is filled with stale and flavorless dialogue. There was not one single line of dialogue that struck me as poignant.

This is a point that I should have brought up earlier, but these scenes with the Israeli politicians is where it is most problematic. While the dialogue in the Entebbe scenes isn’t good either, at least there was tension due to the scenario. But with the politicians; on top of subpar dialogue, there’s nothing particularly exciting happening either. The British Eddie Marsan happens to be in 7 Days in Entebbe as Shimon Peres, an Israeli politician who favors military action and no negotiation. Marsan happens to be one of my favorite actors working today – his performance in Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky is nothing short of brilliant (and I consider that a criminal understatement). That said, not even his presence could make his scenes even slightly more engaging.

On the topic of performances, though there’s nothing to really write home about (save for Pike and Bruhl), at least everybody gets the job done. That’s really all I can say.

Throughout 7 Days in Entebbe, there are sequences displaying a dance troupe in a circle of chairs performing some sort of interpretive routine. As a matter of fact, the film opens with one of these moments. I was scratching my head then, and I continued to scratch my head every time one of these scenes played out. It’s the film’s attempt at being artsy, but it is completely out of place here. Like, distractingly out of place. Additionally, because of the frequency of these scenes, it becomes less and less possible to take them seriously. The end credits are set in front of one final dance sequence – honestly, I was laughing at the movie at this point.

As typical with films like these, 7 Days in Entebbe closes with pre-end credit updates on the issue and people involved and what they’re up to today. I felt zero weight reading about what these people are up to today. Perhaps I should have, but if the movie about the issue isn’t interesting, what would compel me to be interested in the real thing?

At least 7 Days in Entebbe didn’t overstay its welcome, as it had the courtesy to have a decent pace in an hour and some-forty minute runtime, so it moves along just fine. Though the tension required in the Entebbe sequences is lacking, there is still at least some there with its claustrophobic setting. It’s not a god-awful movie, nor is it offensive to those involved, but there’s just nothing fulfilling or worthwhile about it in the long-run. For those that are interested and really want to see the movie (as I know many have interest in the subject matter): going to the movies is expensive. Save your hard-earned cash. When you watch it, you’ll be relieved when you realize that you didn’t miss anything upon theatrical release.