Catch a Fire

Reviewed by:
Pete Hammond

Although it's a period story set during the South African anti-apartheid movement in the 70s and 80s, Catch A Fire wisely avoids falling into political traps. Instead, it focuses on the heroic struggle for freedom through the eyes of a reluctant warrior named Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke in a heartbreaking, Oscar worthy performance), who spent ten years in the same prison as Nelson Mandela for his part in trying to end the segregationist policies of the (then) South African government. Chamusso, an ordinary apolitical man, husband, and soccer coach, is driven to action when he and his wife are wrongly jailed. Realizing the oppressive nature of the country's leadership, he becomes a leading freedom fighter, attacking a key oil refinery while being harassed and stalked by a controlling police colonel (Tim Robbins, terrific as well), who infiltrates his life and tracks his moves like something out of The Fugitive. Catch a Fire is an explosive, real-life screen thriller that has that rare combination of heart-pounding excitement and a great human story. It would have been very easy for the film's director Philip Noyce (Clear and Present Danger) to take this story in a far more politically dense direction, but by turning it into a character-driven suspenseful nail-biter, the impact of this man's plight and the courageous course he took becomes all the more personal and meaningful.

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