I’ve never been a big fan of Guy Ritchie movies (The Gentleman, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels). His zany gangster films, with cockney slang the dialog of choice, have been a struggle for me. So, it was with some trepidation that I took the plunge with his newest film, The Covenant. (You’ll see it sometimes listed as “Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant” to differentiate it from several other films of the same name.) The tale of a U.S. soldier and his Afghan interpreter is new territory for Ritchie, and he takes on a welcome restraint in a realistic, suspenseful portrayal of war.
Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Master Sgt. John Kinley and Dar Salim as his interpreter, Ahmed. Ahmed is outspoken and doesn’t always follow orders despite the fact that his predecessor was killed by a bomb explosion. His persistence to question some of Kinley’s directives pays off when he saves the unit from being ambushed by the Taliban. Later, while checking for insurgent arms cache the team is attacked and all but Kinley and Ahmed are killed. Kinley is wounded and incapacitated. The harrowing odyssey that Ahmed endures to get back to base with Kinley is superhuman and the jaw-dropping saga of the movie. The movie jumps to California as Kinley recuperates, unaware of how he was saved but knowing that Ahmed had a lot to do with it. Ahmed and his family are underground in Afghanistan evading the Taliban, while Kinley is exacerbated at home fighting the bureaucracy to obtain visas for them. Kinley flies back to Kabul in an attempt to save Ahmed himself.
The U.S. employed over 50,000 interpreters over the course of the war in Afghanistan. Thousands of interpreters remain behind almost two years after the U.S. withdrawal in 2021. The Taliban considers them traitors and continues to pursue those who helped the U.S. They have killed 300 former interpreters. While Kinley and Ahmed did not exist, The Covenant is a composite story inspired by true events such as theirs. Ritchie tones down his usual hyperactivity and focuses on the unspoken trust between soldier and interpreter. (The protracted battle scenes at the mine, and particularly the dam, show that Ritchie hasn’t gone soft on us.) Kinley and Ahmed rarely speak throughout their ordeal. They communicate unwavering respect and honor through their eyes all the way home.
D² Rating ◼◼◼◩☐
Trivia: Jake Gyllenhaal had his breakout role in what 1999 film about a young West Virginia man trying to get a science scholarship to avoid working in a coal mine?
Answer: October Sky