PATRIOT. TERRORIST. NEGOTIATOR. PEACEMAKER. 

South Africa, 1985; British businessman Michael Young (Jonny Lee Miller) tries to start talks between the ANC, represented by Thabo Mbeki (Chiwetel Ejiofor), and Botha’s regime, represented by professor Will Esterhuyse (William Hurt). The story of the last years before the release of Nelson Mandela and fall of the Apartheid system should make for an intriguing and exciting film; both the regime and the ANC were victims of their own violent ways and resented each other deeply. However, director Pete Travis is unable to make the drama rise above the expected; well acted and thoroughly respectable, but hardly an emotional powerhouse.

2009-Britain. Made for TV. 109 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Pete Travis. Book: Robert Harvey (“The Fall of the Apartheid”). Cast: William Hurt (Will Esterhuyse), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Thabo Mbeki), Jonny Lee Miller (Michael Young), Mark Strong, Clarke Peters, John Kani… Derek Jacobi.

Trivia: Released theatrically in some countries.

AVERAGE

IMDb