Sometimes a movie just doesn’t work out, no matter how strong the ingredients. Here we have a film with a first rate cast, tackling some strong subject matter, but “The Whistleblower” just didn’t seem to work out. The film premiered at TIFF last year to a muted response and when we caught up with it at IFFBoston, we found the film to feature strong performances but let down by its one dimensional approach. And the new trailer for the film kind of bears that out.
Playing like a re-tooled version of “The Constant Gardener,” the film finds Rachel Weisz playing Kathryn Bolkovac a Nebraska cop who gets drawn in by an investigation into the seedy world of international sexual slavery that goes to the highest levels of international government. Co-starring David Strathairn, Monica Bellucci and Vanessa Redgrave it seems like it should be a slam dunk, no-brainer of a topical, interesting drama but it plays like a pretty rote walk through this kind of material. The film marks the feature debut of Larysa Kondracki who wrote the film with Eilis Kirwan. Again, everyone looks to be in top form but the overly familiar feel of the look and feel of the film is a disappointment.
“The Whistleblower” will open on August 5th. Check out the synopsis and trailer below (or in HD at Apple).
Inspired by actual events, Kathy (Academy Award(R) winner Rachel Weisz) is an American police officer who takes a job working as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia. Her expectations of helping to rebuild a devastated country are dashed when she uncovers a dangerous reality of corruption, cover-up and intrigue amid a world of private contractors and multinational diplomatic doubletalk. Directed by first time filmmaker Larysa Kondracki, the film also stars Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave, Monica Bellucci and Academy Award nominee David Strathairn.
