‘Redemption D Day’ a no-thrills thriller
Gary Dourdan deserves better. The former “CSI” star, also known for “Alien: Resurrection,” has a strong screen presence that suggests something deeper beneath the surface. Unfortunately, his star turn in the abduction thriller “Redemption Day,” the feature debut of Moroccan producer Hicham Hajji, is not the tool to excavate that.
Although Hajji has assembled an impressive supporting cast, including Andy Garcia, Martin Donovan, Ernie Hudson and Canadian actress Serinda Swan, the script, by Hajji, Sam Chouia and Lemore Syvan is dreadfully dull and underdeveloped, ridden with bland, limply delivered dialogue. There’s not a thrill to be found in this ostensible thriller, a rote kidnapping exercise taped together with digital blood spatter and an overly dramatic score, vaguely gesturing at global crises from five years ago.
Dourdan is Br a former Marine by nightmares o mission gone aw ria. His wife, Kat is an archaeolog has recently disc ancient city und Moroccan deser hoping will revea tant discoveries origins of human encourages Kate the trip, but it’s n hours before he the call that she’ abducted by a Fr Algerian terroris by ISIS, Jaafar E (Samy Naceri), a dering across the border. For Brad tage negotiator, means it’s time t up and rescue hi
It’s your basic girl story, with a stacles and allies way you might e the sheen of a ch direct-to-video a The combat sequ have all the intri watching someo play “Call of Du few fight scenes
foundly leaden. Even the tech dude who should be the comic relief never delivers any jokes (aside from referring to himself as “XL Neo”). Plus, the wildly inconsistent production values from scene to scene make it feel like two completely different movies. There are computer-enhanced explosions, as well as many, many, long, extensive drone shots of various vehicles driving across the desert, but the Situation Room looks like they stole a shot in the corner of a mid-budget hotel business center, and then doubled that for the press briefing set.
You keep waiting for a twist that never comes, or something more to be revealed (and there are opportunities), but no, it’s just that straightforward the whole way through. Kidnapping, ransom, videos of bloodied hostages quaking before swords, Navy SEALS shooting the place up, etc. There’s some opaque discussion about the influence of the oil lobby on the rescue, as the cigar-chomping American ambassador (Garcia) and a sniveling diplomat of sorts (Donovan) hesitate to act because it might help some kind of oil deal. It’s never quite explained, despite opening title cards proclaiming the power and importance of oil, and an inexplicable 11th hour appearance from a Foghorn Leghorn-accented oil lobbyist in full Colonel Sanders get-up who confirms their undue influence.
It’s easy to harp on the production issues that plague “Redemption Day” because there’s not much else to think about with a story this flat. There are no character arcs for these heroes. They act as you expect them to, all while wondering if their significant personal growth happened before the events depicted in the film. Even the title is confounding: “Redemption Day”? For who? For what? Those are the existential questions you might be asking yourself about this film as the credits roll.