7 Days in Entebbe

Directed by José Padilha, 7 Days in Entebbe details the 1976 true-life hijacking of an Air France flight and the impact it has on a variety of (poorly-drawn) characters. It’s inherently enthralling stuff that’s employed to persistently (and increasingly) underwhelming effect by Padilha, as the filmmaker, working from Gregory Burke’s screenplay, delivers a sluggish and hopelessly bland thriller that contains few (if any) elements designed to capture and sustain the viewer’s interest – with Padilha, for the most part, unable to generate the tension and excitement one might’ve anticipated from such a premise. (The degree to which certain suspenseful interludes, including the initial taking of the aforementioned plane, fall hopelessly flat is nothing short of astounding, ultimately.) There’s little doubt, as well, that the arms-length atmosphere is compounded by an astonishing absence of engaging, three-dimensional protagonists, as talented performers such as Daniel Brühl and Rosamund Pike find themselves trapped within the confines of unconvincing and oddly didactic figures devoid of compelling attributes. By the time the laughably inept climax rolls around, in which Padilha ruins the impact of the anticipated rescue operation by cutting between it and an avant-garde ballet performance (ie it’s just hackneyed silliness), 7 Days in Entebbe has certainly cemented its place as an unmitigated disaster of mostly awe-inspiring proportions.

* out of ****