Review by John Delia, Sr.
The title of this movie, Backstabbing for Beginners, may be a good description, but it also fools its audience into thinking they are about to see a love relationship gone wrong. That said, the film itself is a decent political thriller that’s centered around an actual happening on the world stage. A good cast and storyline, the movie puts its audience in the thick of Iraq under Saddam Hussein during a United Nations deal to feed the country’s starving population. If you like world politics and how countries can be manipulated, then rush to see Backstabbing for Beginners.
It’s 2004 and the United States is entrenched in the Middle East trying to make sense of Saddam Hussein’s vicious attacks on his own people and nearby nations. There are also rumors that he has weapons of mass destruction and ties to terrorism. In Iraq the “Oil for Food†program is in full swing under the auspices of United Nations whereby the country will be able to sell its oil on the world market, but a portion of the profits would go into a fund to provide food for those suffering due to sanctions against them. Over 26 million Iraqis are benefiting from the program, or so they say?
Young college graduate Michael Sullivan (Theo James) decides to apply for a post as an Ambassador for the United Nations because he wants to make a difference in the world. By a stroke of luck or by maybe by design, Sullivan gets hired by Pasha (Ben Kingsley), the Undersecretary General to the United Nations as his assistant. He quickly gets assigned to Iraq to replace his predecessor who was killed in an auto accident. Before leaving he gets approached by a CIA agent who tells Sullivan that the Oil for Food program may have some tampering going on and he should keep his eyes open.
In Iraq Sullivan has his desk at a UN post run by French National Christina Dupre (Jacqueline Bisset). She’s a tough boss who won’t stand for any misgivings involving the Oil for Food program. Following his acclamation to the country he starts to find some irregularities in the Oil for Food program and reports them to Pasha. Told to turn a blind eye to the information, Sullivan starts to get edgy about his position. So begins a story of deception, corruption, kickbacks, payoffs, bribes and murder.
French Director Per Fly does a good job of setting up his audience showing archive clips of Saddam Hussein and his reign of terror over his people, the Curds and other neighboring nations. He then integrates other characters including a love interest Nashim (Belcim Bilgin) for Sullivan who unbeknownst by him may be on the take. He heightens the suspense as the film goes on putting Sullivan in some tight situations. But, his film does lag toward the end, before taking aim at a predictable encounter.
The acting by Ben Kingsley is very good as usual. He puts his character in jeopardy with the United Nations at times, turns up the heat against Sullivan’s insistence to investigate wrong doing and stands fast against a whistleblower. In his career he has receive a Best Actor Oscar and has amassed over 130 acting credits.
As Sullivan, Theo James’s performance is weak at times. His demeanor hardly ever changes from easy going even under pressure and his forcefulness lack strength during the worst of times. This may be due to lack of good direction so I’ll give James a pass on this one.
Backstabbing for Beginners has been rated R by the MPAA for language throughout, and some violence. It also has a scene of sex and a car explosion that looks very real.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A fairly good political thriller. (3 out of 5 stars)
Additional Film Information
Cast: Theo James, Ben Kingsley, Belçim Bilgin, Jacqueline Bisset, Rossif Sutherland, Rachel Wilson, Brian Markinson.
Directed and screenplay written by: Per Fly
Genre: Drama, Political Thriller
MPAA Rating: R for language throughout, and some violence. A scene of sexuality
Running Time: 1 hr. 49 min.
Release Date: April 27, 2018
Distributed by: A24