Civic Duty

Review By: Aaron Heredia
AaronHeredia@TheCinemaSource.com

I never thought I would see a movie that makes me root for a terrorist. Civic Duty proved me wrong. The “protagonist” is a man that loses his job, his dream house, and his wife. Somehow, I still prefer the “terrorist” over him.

This film wasn’t horrible. I actually enjoyed most of the plot. It just achieves its objective at the expense of its story. The best part of Civic Duty is definitely the cinematography. It has a Requiem for a Dream feel to it. The colors, Duke, the colors! Also, the array of lenses and trick shots help to show the obsessed, delusional state of Terry Allen, almost to the point that you want to sympathize with him.

This, of course, is until you realize he’s an all around ass hole and kind of a racist. It doesn’t take long to figure out. Peter Krause plays him to perfection. He makes it easy for you to hate him. The camera and acting seem to be at odds with one another, which in itself is very effective. One forces you to understand Terry by closing in on his severance check, the other quickly shifts this empathy to disgust, as in when he belittles and berates a cheerful bank teller. The greatest part of Mr. Allen, though, is the fact that he has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He’s quite the catch, or at least his wife seems to think so. It’s a wonder how she can be with him and still be so likeable.

Kari Matchett’s performance is good, but forgettable. Nothing in her character, Marla, really stands out. She seems very repressed, but after years with Terry, I can’t blame her. There is one argument in the film where she shines, but not for the right reasons. It became so melodramatic that I found myself laughing, mostly due to the fact that she’s pretty much talking to a wall. It’s almost painful to see Terry try to justify his psychotic behavior while Marla is trying to make him understand the truth. He’s so thickheaded with his delusion, though, that she leaves frustrated. At this point, the film was enjoyable, like a political Disturbia. I found myself frequently asking, “What the hell is wrong with him?” It was great. The director Jeff Renfroe succeeded at making a continuous tone of irritation with Terry throughout the entire film. Another positive point of the movie is that there is no protagonist. There’s really nobody to root for, except maybe “the terrorist.”

Gabe (Khaled Abol Naga) and Agent Hillary (Richard Schiff) are the most appealing characters in the film. Before ever meeting Gabe, while he is still just the creepy guy at the window staring at Marla, I already liked him. He was my favorite for the mere fact that he angers Terry so much.

The novelty of this film wore off, however, with a single speech. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say this speech, filled with rhetoric and examples ...