Wordiezett So much average

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

TxMike My wife and I watched this at home on DVD from our public library. It is ultra realistic, touching on worldwide terroristic events in 1972, then again some years later. In 1972 was the Palestinian attacks at the Olympics in Germany that resulted in 11 Israeli athletes being captured and killed. As per the title most of the story here takes place in Beirut, a very war-torn city. In 1972 Jon Hamm as US negotiator Mason Skiles is living happily with his wife in Beirut when a bomb and an attack kills her. He vows he will never return to Beirut.Some years later he is summoned by the government, his good friend has been kidnapped, he is to return to Beirut to negotiate his release. It gets very complicated, for several different reasons. It is a very gripping story, well made and well acted.Filmed in Morocco.

TroliusMaximus Due to this film not (repeat: NOT) obligatorily portraying Israel as some helpless sheep stuck in a sea of blood-thirsty Moslem wolves -- rather, as the arguable antagonist to Middle East ruckus (indeed, a view that anyone who has taken it upon themselves to learn a modicum unvetted history, would attest to) -- many aspiring and / or employed JIDF online propaganda trolls have infested the IMDb reviews section of this film, in order to try to down-vote it into oblivion. To be fair, I'm frankly surprised a film that paints the Israelis in such a, at best, dubious light -- as well as the Americans as being the unwitting (read: witless) peace-keepers, stuck between the former faction, its colonised foe(s) and their regional, hegemonic bent -- was given the green light (seeing as how pro-Israel Hollywood has infamously been... for obvious reasons).That being said, and politics aside, this film, albeit somewhat formulaic in narrative, is well-acted, well shot and has good pacing for its 100-plus-minute run-time. It stars Paul Hamm, who gives a polished performance. and the forever reliable Rosamund Pike -- a cast pairing that, alone, warrants this film's viewing. Beirut does not do anything particularly new, nor engender anything that stands out from the herd of 'Middle East malaise' themed -- that is, and as broached, aside from its depiction of the Israeli side, as it relates to the trilateral dispute that the film's subtext centres on.As such, and irrespective of its by-the-numbers approach, the film still feels refreshing -- in it breaking the 'hasbara' mould that has become all too commonplace in films dealing with this eristic subject matter. Beirut's undertones create a glimmer of hope for the mainstream worm to yet turn and, perhaps, sometime in the distant future, for the world to approach the, what has long become a veritable meme of "peace in the Middle East", from a standpoint rooted in reality; nay emotion, fake / vetted news and propaganda.

grantjohnson-81564 This is a solid rental. Excellent cast and writing. Don't believe the haters on this one. It's worth the time and is very well done from start to finish. Is it predictable - yes - especially if you watch as many movies as probably everyone that posts a review on here does. Is it entertaining - absolutely.

Bob Rutzel State Dept Diplomat and Mid-East Negotiator Mason Skiles (John Hamm) had mentored young Karim with wife Nadia (Leila Bekhti) and learns from Cal Riley (Mark Pellegrinn) that Karim, now 12-yrs old, is the brother of Abu Rajal (Hicham Ourraqa) who is responsible for the murder of Jews at the Munich Olympics. Then Karim is kidnapped. Ten years later Skiles learns that his colleague Cal Riley has been kidnapped and now the adult Karim (Idar Chenbder) wants his brother back from the Israelis and he turns to Skiles to negotiate the transfer of Cal for Abu Rajal. There is so much talking that it is hard to know who are the good guys and who are not. There is a bad guy in here and it is NOT the reason that Cal was kidnapped as he was about to whistle blow on someone. Of course, the Israelis say they don 't have Abu Rajal and Skiles turns to the PLO who say they don't have him either. As long as you follow Skiles and what he is trying to do you can almost not pay too much attention to the rest of the CIA agents and State Department people. They can be a confusing bunch. Notables: Rosamund Pike as Sandy, a State Dept person who eventually lets Skiles run with a plan that may or may not work. Many darkened scenes don't help listening to characters and we are never sure if they are on the up and up. Both John Hamm and Rosamund Pike more or less control this story and the chemistry between them is good. It was fun to watch Skiles use some bargaining chips to both the Israelis and the PLO. (7/10)Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Humor: Not really. Language: Yes. Rating: B