 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Civic Duty
- Review Date: September 30, 2007
- R
- Genre: Thriller
- 2007
Common Sense Media says
Terrorism themes + paranoia = not for kids.
Parents say
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this mature thriller explores the connections between media-induced paranoia, individual madness, and terrorism. The focus on one man's increasingly doubtful perspective makes the plot ever murkier -- it's hard to tell what's real and what he's imagining. Violence includes hostage-taking at gunpoint, fighting/punching and bloody faces, a man hitting his wife, and a SWAT team storming a door with automatic weapons drawn. A brief early sex scene isn't explicit (close-ups of faces are shown in silhouette). Language reflects the movie's increasing tension and anger, with many uses of "f--k," plus "s--t" and a string of anti-Arab racist terms (including a variation on the "N" word).
What's the story?
In this thriller, unemployed accountant Terry (Peter Krause) takes to heart all of the TV reports he hears about terrorist plots, Homeland Security Alert Levels, and keeping his eyes open for "suspicious" people. Newly unemployed, Terry is feeling increasingly angry, wretched, and worried when he spies a new neighbor -- Gabe Hassan (Khaled Abol Naga) -- moving in with few belongings. Suspecting the "Middle Eastern-looking guy" is a bad guy, he prowls the Internet in search of "Most Wanted" photos and follows Gabe around town. When Terry sort of-accidentally sneaks inside Gabe's apartment and finds beakers and tubes, he calls the FBI; Agent Hillary (Richard Schiff) tells him that he's paranoid. Still, Terry can't seem to help himself; his increasing irrationality upsets his wife so much that she leaves -- yet another sign to Terry that no one sees what he sees and that his perspective is special, acute, and right.
Is it any good?
Jeff Renfroe employs the camera from Terry's perspective, peering through Terry's window at Gabe's door across the courtyard, framing close-ups at sharp angles and in deep, greenish-filtered shadows. When Terry at last confronts Gabe, the film lurches into a very tightly focused, essentially two-character standoff as they lob forceful, irate questions about revenge, righteousness, and morality at each other.
These questions are definitely complex and crucial: Would Terry want to avenge his own wife's death? How does ideology frame definitions of good and evil? But the film's subtler questions are just as pressing, as Terry becomes a product of both his personal situation and his broader cultural environment. Even when Terry thinks he's finally attaining self-control, the film suggests he's losing himself. To its credit, Civic Duty doesn't resolve this dilemma but instead leaves it to viewers' judgment -- keeping in mind that you're surrounded by the same media provocations that Terry is.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the media's effect on people's fears and opinions of others. For example, do TV news reports frame reports of terrorist threats in a way that encourages viewers to suspect their neighbors or distrust people who look or act different from them? If so, how and why? Are news reports ever truly objective? How would you respond to someone who looks "suspicious"? And who defines what "suspicious" means in the first place?
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- Teens & kids
Kid, 12 years old
May 16, 2010
AGE
Better for older kids
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Kid, 11 years old
May 16, 2010
AGE
Better for older kids
Was this review useful?
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| Studio: | Freestyle Releasing |
| Director: | Jeff Renfroe |
| Cast: | Kari Matchett, Khaled Abol Naga, Peter Krause |
| Genre: | Thriller |
| Run time: | 94 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | May 3, 2007 |
| DVD release date: | October 2, 2007 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | language and some threatening situations. |
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