Catch a Fireby Anonymous

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February 01, 2007: CATCH A FIRE is a very entertaining and instructive film about the 1980s South African problem with Apartheid - a time when the minority white population had political control over the far larger populace of blacks. It is based on a true story of one Patrick Chamusso, a fine working man not affiliated with the growing number of terrorists fighting to unite the black citizens to overthrow the Boers who is driven to alter his life to join the militant party of the African National Congress when he has personal experiences of abuse by the controlling whites. Patrick Chamusso (a fine Derek Luke) supports his wife Precious (Bonnie Mbuli Henna) and two daughters as a foreman at the oil plant. Though the plant is under investigation for terroristacts Chamusso remains adamantely a pacificist. Yet when the conflicted Boer policeman Nic Vos (Tim Robbins) begins to bear down on Chamusso as suspect in a fire explosion at his plant, Chamusso's alibi conceals the fact that while away coaching the plant's boys' soccer team he steals away to see his illegitimate son and ex-girlfriend and this bit of secrecy to protect his wife's feelings causes the explosion with Vos that confines him to jail. Chamusso joins the military branch of the ANC, trains with them, is captured, abused, imprisoned and finally released with the rise of Nelson Mandela. How all of the progress of the story takes place is the pleasure of the fine script by Shawn Slovo and the direction of Phillip Noyce (The Quiet American, Rabbit-Proof Fence, The Bone Collector, Clear and Present Danger, Patriot Games etc) who knows how to move these movies along. The cast is excellent, the sense of place (the film was filmed entirely on location) and the production aspects are all superb. The only problem with the film is the 'sell-out' at the end when suddenly we are watching bits and pieces of filmed history and voice over content that seems to diminish the emotional impact of the film. Still, for another opportunity to understand Apartheid and the great country of South Africa, this film is very much worth watching. And Derek Luke, Bonnie Henna and Tim Robbins offer excellent acting skills. Grady Harp

This review was written about the DVD Wide Screen edition.