Directed By Alejandro Monteverde

Starring – Jim Caviezal, Mira Sorvino, Bill Camp

The Plot – Based on the incredible true story, the film shines a light on even the darkest of places. After rescuing a young boy from ruthless child traffickers, a federal agent (Caviezal) learns the boy’s sister is still captive and decides to embark on a dangerous mission to save her. With time running out, he quits his job and journeys deep into the Colombian jungle, putting his life on the line to free her from a fate worse than death.

Rated PG-13 for thematic content involving sex trafficking, violence, adult language, sexual references, some drug references and smoking throughout

(5) Sound of Freedom | Theatrical Trailer for July 4 | Angel Studios – YouTube

POSITIVES

Make no mistakes about Angel Studios anchoring this production, or its PG-13 rating, this is especially a dark and devastating experience that cuts beneath the comfort level for many, with regards to the overwhelming numbers of child sex trafficking. It’s led by Monteverde’s powerfully impactful direction, both in illustrating the daily nightmare for federal agents left to task the world’s most unforgiving criminals, but also the terrifying circumstances of those youths whose only mistake were trusting adults who promised them so much initially, then betrayed them into a world that their young minds can’t even fathom. Monteverde gives us an upclose and unapologetic insight into the world’s many dark corners, and in doing such unlocks a true story telling that practically demands the big screen treatment, all with material that can tastefully push the envelope without downright alienating its audience. Even more refreshing, religious instances are deposited into the film, but they’re never used as a crutch of propaganda, instead serving as the sparsity of hope that these children still carry with them, with Caviezel’s Tim Ballard feeling like the manifestation of Christ’s good-will ass-kicker, who never stops in his mission to free as many of the world’s children as possible. Caviezel himself is remarkably moving here, especially in maintaining the air of professionalism to his internal struggle, which feels like it could capably snap on one of these kidnappers at any second. When he’s not resiliently brave towards maintaining focus for the mission through some overwhelming odds, he’s heartily humbling towards being a nourishing force to these psychologically scarred children, maintaining the air of family man that he serves as at home, while bringing such motivation to his daily routine in career. Beyond these elements, while I have many problems with the script, the matters it does succeed at is in illustrating the long-distance journey of those captured. This makes the first half of the movie the superior one for me, as flashbacks are used at the most uniquely satisfying moments to not only articulate insight into something being asked in the foreground of the narrative, but also in keeping the story continuously moving throughout its 130 minute run time, producing great tension and urgency in the objective, which at times with the planning feels like it could seamlessly fall into the heist category of films.

NEGATIVES

Though maintaining your attention throughout a devastating engagement, “Sound of Freedom” isn’t without a few noteworthy flaws that take away from the experience, especially from the confines of an inconsistent screenplay that doesn’t always feel cinematic in the consistency of its traits. This is especially the case with the structure of the storytelling, with a duo of third acts, unexplored aftermaths, and on-the-nose kind of dialogue that feels lifted from a television production taking away the ambiance of its big screen captivity. This is especially the case with the aforementioned dual climaxes, which while effective in pulling you into the plight of these characters, does feel a bit overlong and even redundant by film’s end, making this feel like a submerged script from two episodes of television that you can continuously interpret during a setting with such a lack of levity during such monumental sequences. Adding to this unshakeable brand of TV essence, is the limitation in production values, which can be seen in everything from under-populated government offices, to strangely improper uses of comedy, to poor framing, to even artificiality in lighting, which feels heavily influenced by post-production touch-ups that can’t quite find the right level of brightness to naturally imbed itself into the integrity of the scenes they accompany. It gives most of these vital scenes an unshakeable element of artificiality that often broke my concentration, all the while offering nothing of stylistic substance that can break misconception about Angel Films. Finally, the diminishing returns from a solid ensemble require Caviezel to work overtime, especially in the confines of his on-screen wife, Mira Sorvino, who only appears in two scenes throughout the entire movie. This is especially tragic because the film spends so little time balancing Tim’s nightmare daily career with levity from those at home who keep him moving, and considering this is a top-tier actress like Sorvino, it’s all the more disappointing that the film couldn’t find something to justify her casting. Then there’s the cartoonish antagonists, whose over-the-top personalities do effectively make you root for their demise, but at the cost of sleeziness shattering subtleties. Their demeanor and approach to character is so over-the-top and one-dimensional that you wonder how their operations has ever lasted so long, especially with responses to youths that practically see them salivating and panting, in the same way dogs do.

OVERALL
“Sound of Freedom” is a suspensefully taut exploration on the terrifying realities of child trafficking. With relaxed religious undertones, responsibly informative direction from Monteverde, and captivating intensity from Caviezel at the forefront of the narrative, the film goes all-in with the exploration of its underground world, overstepping some occasional script and production woes, towards solidifying the ideal that our children simply aren’t for sale.

My Grade: 6/10 or C+