Yeah 1 star sounds extreme, I know. But the reality is that the people who actually saw the film need to bring the film's rating down somehow.

In reality I'd give this film 6 stars on 10. While Ben Afleck is a great actor and a great director, the script is just horrendous when it comes to the standards for what should constitute Best Picture.

THE BAD:

We are introduced to several characters. They are in Iraq when the people turn on the US embassy and start kidnapping the people in there. These characters are the 6 or so that escaped the mess and are seeking refuge in the Canadian embassy.

The first major problem of the movie is that none of these characters are characters. They have no arcs. And even worse, they have no static personality. It's hard to care about a group of people who don't display any form of humanity.

Anyway, next problem: Ben Afleck. While he shows that he can act, his character is also boring. He's divorced, he has a son that he cares about, he's the tough but smart guy who's gonna go in and save everyone. It's super unoriginal and his character doesn't do much to make you care about him.

A lack of character, and thus heart, really sinks the movie. Additionally, the film is not at all historically accurate, but I'll be honest I don't really hold things like that against a film. It's just worth noting, I guess, since some people get offended that the film is disrespecting historical figures through misrepresentation.

One more thing: I kind of found the depiction of Arabs as all insane kind of racist... it'd be awesome of they could have made some of the Arabs good people to fight that Western propaganda notion that all the Arabs are "evil Al-Qaedas."

THE GOOD:

John Newman and Christopher Walken's characters were awesome. I don't think it's how they were written, it's just that they are great actors to watch. They were a highlight.

Also, the directing was great. While I had no reason to care about the characters, Afleck still manages to successfully create tension during several small moments and during the final chase.

THE VERDICT:

This film has some value. It demonstrates Afleck's directing abilities, I enjoyed seeing John Newman and Christopher Walken's characters interact, and I did learn some history (even though it's inaccurate, I learned the real story by going on Wikipedia, would have never did that if I never saw the movie).

Yet, it lacks character, and as a result any humanity.

6/10.

A Best Picture this is not.