With the exception of the very Call of Duty-esque finale, Ritchie resists the urge to go too big in his action scenes, resulting in one of his most grounded and “realistic” movies. It’s proper stomach-churning stuff as the troops are picked off one-by-one, the situation getting ever more dire and, even if the rest of the film can’t match the sheer heft of this moment, the connection it forcibly forms between you and the squad powers everything that comes after. The absolute highlight of these – and of the film in general – is in a catastrophic ambush on John and Ahmed’s squad. Ritchie tones down a lot of his usual stylistic and dialogue flourishes – at first glance, you could mistake The Covenant for, say, one of those Peter Berg/Mark Wahlberg “recent history” films – but still marshals some impressive shootouts. It’s not a journey with too many surprises, but Gyllenhaal and Salim make for a compelling lead duo, Gyllenhaal carrying on his run of the past couple of years as a reliable action star. Ahmed soon proves his loyalty and capabilities, and a bond between him and John forms, one that is tested when the Taliban put a price on the pair’s head and John has to get Ahmed and his family out of the country, fighting enemy troops and American visa bureaucracy.
Picking out a new interpreter, John decides on Ahmed (Dar Salim) despite, or maybe because of, his reputation for stubbornness. We open in 2018 with Sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) witnessing the death of his current interpreter, along with one of his American squadmates, in an IED attack. It makes for a solid if not hugely remarkable addition to his oeuvre, more earnest than you might expect as a follow up to Operation Fortune, inspired by the recent headline-grabbing stories of US military interpreters in Afghanistan and the way they were abandoned during America’s chaotic exit from the country. Excluding his short films and cameo roles, Buster Keaton has appeared in a total of 23 movies.Guy Ritchie continues his ridiculously prolific recent streak with The Covenant – his fifth film in five years, with a sixth in six (about World War II spycraft) due out in 2024. The second period in his feature film career can be marked by his late '20s and early '30s productions for MGM, a studio that limited his creative liberty. Most of the movies of this time were co-written and co-directed by Keaton as well.
This was the era of silent film classics like Sherlock Jr., Three Ages, College, and many more. To view Buster Keaton's movies in chronological order, cinephiles can start off with his features from the 1920s, a period considered to be the high point of his career.
Known for his deadpan facial expressions and exaggerated body language, Keaton and his work are worth revisiting for enthusiasts of silent cinema, physical comedy, and even stunt choreography. His collective work definitely makes him as significant as other silent comedy stars like Charlie Chaplin - with whom he finally shared the screen in the 1952 drama Limelight. It has instead been influential to the history of cinema as a whole, particularly in the action and comedy genres. However, unlike other yesteryear stars, Keaton's filmography is somehow not dated. to The General, the current decade will mark the 100th anniversary of several of Buster Keaton's movies.
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