Jon Hamm (foreground) and Rosamund Pike, in BEIRUT. Photo courtesy of Bleeker Street.
Jon Hamm finally gets the leading man role he has long deserved, in the Middle East-set thriller BEIRUT. It should have happened long ago for the former St. Louisan, based on his unforgettable turn in MAD MEN, if nothing else.
Hamm is excellent as Mason Skiles, a one-time U.S diplomat once stationed in Lebanon whose life was upended by tragedy. Skiles is reluctantly pulled back into service to negotiate the release of his former colleague and best friend Cal Riley (Mark Pellegrino) who is being held hostage by Palestinian terrorists. Hamm’s strong performance is the primary reason to see this thriller, which does not finish as strong as it starts. Still, Hamm is good enough to make the film still worth seeing.
BEIRUT opens in a peaceful, idyllic Beirut in 1972, where skilled diplomat Mason Skiles (Hamm) is working the room of a party he and his wife are hosting. The party is barely underway when his friend Cal (Mark Pellegrino), an embassy staffer and covert CIA operative, arrives with disturbing news that concerns Karim (Yoau Saian Rosenberg), the 13-year-old Lebanese orphan the couple have virtually adopted. Events suddenly take a violent turn and end in tragedy for Skiles.
Read the full review at WeAreMovieGeeks.com
http://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2018/04/beirut-review/
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