'71

Parental Rating: R

Contains: Language    Violence    Adult Content    

Jill's Review

Opens March 13, 2015

Runs 99 minutes

A young British soldier, Gary Hook (Jack O'Connell) is accidentally left behind when a riot breaks out in the streets of Belfast in 1971. He has barely finished training and is sent on an operation to locate hidden caches of weapons that the IRA may have accumulated. When the IRA is warned of the impending search, a small gang of their henchmen is deployed to send the soldiers heading back to their base. In the melee, Hook's fellow soldier is brutally murdered and he is left to escape on his own. Brutally beaten and disoriented, he is aided by a sympathetic man and his daughter, but they still cannot be trusted. Will Hook make it out of enemy territory before it is too late?

This takes place when the Protestants and the Catholics were at each other's throats and the IRA was just beginning to take control. It is difficult to tell who is who in this movie. There is a duplicitous undercover commander that is causing trouble and it is hard to tell who is on the "good" side and who is not. This is a taut, well-paced thriller and ultimately, you want Hook to make it out alive. I found it just a little hard to follow and the accents are very strong but overall, it is well done and it keeps your attention. From the historical perspective, I think it is worth watching.

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