7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE – Review

Though the Oscar ceremony is less than two weeks old, the studios are returning to real-life subject matter with a non-fiction flick usually released toward year’s end for awards consideration. Oh, and this true tale from nearly 42 years ago has been dramatized multiple times. It all really depends on this film maker’s take, their perspective. Big battles of WWII have been the source of several films. Just last year the story of Dunkirk was the backdrop for three films: the propaganda romance THEIR FINEST, the acclaimed Churchill profile THE DARKEST HOUR and Christopher Nolan’s same titled multi-story thriller. Now, returning to theatres is the tale of a hijacked airliner and the secret rescue of its passengers back in 1976. Shortly after the incident, the broadcast networks rushed out two dramatizations (later released theatrically overseas), “Raid on Entebbe” and “Victory at Entebbe” were multi-starred TV events that echoed the “disaster movie” formulas (with casts that included Elizabeth Taylor, Burt Lancaster, and Charles Bronson). And a year after the events, the story was made into a true feature film by the “Go-Go” boys over at Cannon Films as OPERATION: THUNDERBOLT with Klaus Kinski and Sybil Danning as two of the main hijackers (not one to leave a good plot unexploited, the same studio produced a slightly fictionalized version nine years later as THE DELTA FORCE with Lee Marvin and Cannon superstar Chuck Norris). So with over four decades passed, and more information released, will time be an ally in this very latest docudrama/ thriller, 7 DAYS IN ENTEBEE?

The film begins minutes prior to the fateful Air France Flight 139’s boarding in the Athens airport (after originating in Tel Aviv). Near the gate, two members of the German Revolutionary Cells, Bridgett Kuhlmann (Rosamund Pike) and Wilifred Bose (Daniel Bruhl), try to make discreet eye contact with two members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-External Operations. Once the jet is in the air on the way to Paris (after that stopover in Athens), the four take out their weapons (pistols, grenades) and announce that the plane is being hijacked. Bose heads to the cockpit, sending out one crew member, as he gives the pilots part of the new flight plan. When they touch down in Libya for refueling one of the passengers who pretends to be pregnant, is released for medical attention. She contacts authorities who pass on the information. Word eventually gets to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (Lior Ashkenazi) during a cabinet meeting. After the seven hour refueling, the plane lands at its ultimate destination, Uganda at Entebbe airport near an old unused terminal. There everyone is greeted by the country’s president Idi Amin (Nonzo Anozie), who supports the hijackers while assuring the passengers that he is their “hero”. The next day the hijackers issued their demands: $5 million USD for the release of the plane and the release of 53 Palestinian and pro Palestine prisoners. If the demands are not met, they threaten to begin killing the passengers in two days. Shortly after, passports are inspected and the Israelis are separated from the other hostages (who are soon taken away by buses on to other flights). Rabin meets with his security teams. When diplomatic talks with Amin break down, defense minister Shimon Peres (Eddie Marsan) insists that they send in a rescue team. Despite mounting pressure to negotiate, Rabin agrees to the  mission, named “Operation: Thunderbolt”, and an elite military team begins the planning and preparation. One of the soldiers, young Benji (Ben Schnetzer) tries to calm his dancer bride (Andrea Deck), who wants him to attend an important recital, but most importantly, prays the he returns to her from the deadly assignment. And all the while temperatures climb as tensions between the hijackers mount back at the Entebbe airport terminal.

For most of the film’s first act the story centers on the two Germany-based hijackers, a duo united by a mission but with very different personalities. Pike as Kuhlmann is the more focused, perhaps the toughest of the two. Her motivations are more clear as she seems to be seeking revenge for a fallen friend. With her eyes blazing with fury, Pike is a formidable force who still lets her guard down occasionally to clumsily try to comfort a distressed child. Other times she plays the “bad cop” to Bruhl as the often wavering Bose. His reasons for joining are never really concrete. He proclaims himself an idealist, but we’re not shown via flashback how this publisher of radical tomes made this huge leap to action. In between his furious chain-smoking, Bose rankles at his PFLP superiors, and we seem him strain to convince Kuhlmann that they may have been duped, or at least kept in the dark. Bruhl conveys Bose’s disenchantment and unease at his role, especially when the Israelis are singled out. Both Pike and Bruhl relate the still fairly fresh disgust and shame over their homeland’s WWII atrocities. The story shifts in the second act to the Israeli power base, headed by the calm, contemplative Rabin, portrayed with subtlety by Ashkenazi (who were saw as an ambitious politico last year opposite Richard Gere in NORMAN). We can see him slightly struggle to keep his cool (more furious chain-smoking) as he’s bombarded by his country’s press and citizens (they even storm his offices) along with those in his cabinet. The loudest voice may be the tough-talking Peres played with pit bull tenacity by the glowering Marsan . Almost chanting “Israel does not negotiate with terrorists” as a mantra, he hovers over Rabin’s shoulder as the voice demanding action, not talk. Anozie brings an unpredictable affability to the role of Amin. At times an engaging buffoon whose fragile ego can cause him to turn, on a dime, into a vicious raging beast. Also of note is Denis Menochet as the member of the flight crew who is filled with a quiet dignity as he tempers his disgust at his captors’ cruelty. In one scene he delivers a much-needed “wake up” call to Bose, saying that sometimes the world may need plumbers and mechanics more than idealistic radicals.

The depiction of the first minutes of the hijacking is taut with tension with the terrorists in as much of a sweaty panic as many of the passengers. Unfortunately director Jose Padilha (the recent failed ROBOCOP re-boot) then begins to loosen the reins. The internal machinations of the Israeli cabinet is still compelling as are the plotting and rehearsals of the planned rescue. By that time the short flashbacks to the hijackers’ secret meetings in Germany have concluded without really giving us a clear look at their motivations and ultimate goals. And then Padilha and screenwriter Gregory Burke commit a narrative blunder usually foisted upon audiences of the 40’s and 50’s. The film screeches to a halt as we are introduced to the young couple, the soldier and his dancer paramour, perhaps to give the story a more personal, relatable angle. I always think back to the stateside romance that undercut the courtroom tension in THE CAINE MUTINY (Bogie going bananas is much more interesting than the two colorless lovebirds). As if that weren’t bad enough, the actual raid sequence is intercut with the dancer’s big recital, the one her elite forces beau is skipping (the rehearsal scenes weren’t distracting enough). Perhaps the film makers were making an artistic commentary, saying the Middle Eastern conflicts were a never-ending dance of destruction and death. What should be a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat finale is completely derailed, making the final act more frustrating than engaging. And these poor choices make 7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE feel like a full month.

2.5 Out of 5