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of U.S. involvement and mishaps, is the equivalence of the actors actually staring into the camera and telling America what the point of the movie is supposed to be. It’s bad enough that the repetition of propaganda that Terry is exposed to is so blatantly “anti-profiling,” with him watching the news in a zombie-like state. This speech, though, pushes the film’s agenda over the edge. This took me out of the picture completely. It crossed the fine line that political movies walk. It is great when the message is embedded in the performance, adding depth to the film, but what Civic Duty does is compromise the performance to spell out the message. It’s as if they didn’t trust the audience enough to infer the meaning on their own.
I think I was supposed to feel sorry for Terry in the end. He is, after all, a laid-off accountant, but in actuality I didn’t even care what happened for the rest of the movie. I’m not even sure if the final scene was necessary. I really think Renfroe would have made a much better ending if he made the ideas more subtle. In the earlier parts of the film, it is fun to try to decipher what is trying to be said, but when the answer is just handed to you, it makes the past hour seem wasted. The premise of this film is great, and I did enjoy seeing this character unhinge and unravel, but I think the latter fourth of the film just fell apart.
Movie Grade: B-
Synopsis:
Angry and depressed over losing his job, accountant Terry Allen begins to suspect his new neighbor, a single Islamic grad student with a penchant for unexplained late night activities, is at the center of a terrorist conspiracy. Although both Terry's wife and the FBI agent to whom he reports his suspicions are skeptical about his fears, Terry becomes increasingly obsessed with uncovering the man's true identity. Convinced he's all that stands between this Middle-Eastern stranger and a deadly terror attack, Terry finally decides to take matters into his own hands – with shocking results.
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