5 Days of War

Inspired by true events, 5 Days of War follows intrepid journalist Thomas Anders (Rupert Friend) as he and his sarcastic cameraman (Richard Coyle’s Sebastian) arrive in Georgia just as war is breaking out – with the film subsequently detailing the pair’s ongoing endeavors, including their efforts at helping a pretty local (Emmanuelle Chriqui’s Tatia) track down her missing family. Filmmaker Renny Harlin, working from Mikko Alanne’s screenplay, opens 5 Days of War with an over-the-top and oddly uninvolving action sequence that proves disastrous, as the underwhelming opening establishes a tone of hopeless irrelevance that remains firmly in place virtually from start to finish – with the arm’s-length atmosphere perpetuated by Friend’s almost astonishingly bland turn as the one-dimensional protagonist. It is, as such, not surprising to note that certain later sequences are unable to pack the intense, visceral punch that Harlin has clearly intended (eg Sebastian finds himself at the mercy of a sadistic soldier), as the pervasively (and persistently) dull vibe prevents the viewer from connecting to or caring about the exploits of the movie’s various figures. The end result is an aggressively unwatchable piece of work that trivializes its searing subject matter, with the film’s utter failure possibly (hopefully) standing as the final nail in Renny Harlin’s directorial career.

* out of ****