"Actually, I'm here to interpret."
Dealing with the American military presence in Afghanistan, The Covenant charts the relationship between a U.S. officer (Jake Gyllenhall) and an Afghan interpreter (Dar Salim), working in a specialist arms/explosives unit hunting down I.E.D. factories. The pairing of two cynical/world-weary opposites works well and is played deftly by both actors as their bond is forged under the hardest of circumstances, with Gyllenhaal's usual clarity and precision of performance being a major strength in a film that is achingly simplistic but tightly focussed, with Ritchie using location shooting very well and creating an unusually grounded and sombre feel that is very effective. The film also manages to humanise its rather basic characters quite well, making this one of Guy Ritchie's more compelling and watchable films.
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