Dispatched to the French colony of new Caledonia to solve a hostage crisis, crack negotiator – and writer/ director – Mathieu Kassovitz finds himself in the middle of a sweaty stalemate.
The local freedom fighters want independence, the army wants them dead, and French politicians want it over.
Book-ended by thrilling combat sequences, this tragic true story is absorbing, but let down by two crucial flaws.
At a compassion-sapping 136 minutes, it’s far too long, and Kassovitz’s characterless central turn makes a worthy personal statement veer close to vanity project.
