Review of Beirut (2018) by Jeff S — 14 Apr 2018

"Beirut" (Jon Hamm, Rosamond Pike) is the rare type of modern spy movie without a secret agent jumping out of a jet or dispatching a dozen attackers with Bruce Lee fighting skills. Instead, Hamm is a failed spy who quickly has to sort out who is holding an important hostage and who wants that abductee dead.

It's a well-told, suspenseful story, and most of it takes place in the battle-scarred Lebanese city of the title during the 80s. Rosamond Pike, the "Gone Girl," is fine as a fellow spy. The depiction of Beirut might be the most amazing part of the movie because it was not filmed there.

I've had doubts about Hamm as an actor in other roles, but he does a great job carrying this movie. From what I've seen online, movie viewers of Lebanese descent don't like this at all (and there are no positive non-American characters, really).

So, despite that and the fact some characterizations rely too heavily on cliches, I enjoyed it enough to award it a solid 8/10.