Okay, I went and saw Sound of Freedom this evening. First off I'll say that I'm not a film critic. I generally am forgiving when it comes to entertainment value of movies, it has to be a real stinker for me to completely discredit it. This is a result of spending my 20s watching horrible B movies and laughing at their cheesy and low budget nature. That said, I think this film is excellent. I can't say really if it's the best film I've ever watched, but it's very good and it's powerful. It's certainly emotional. Again, I won't say that it is or isn't deserving of it's high praise from people online. It doesn't deserve to be torn down, not a bit, but ultimately that's up for each person to judge. I will say I generally don't care for "Based on True Story" adaptations. I liked this one a lot.
It's a different kind of film. From a plot standpoint someone may try to liken it to Taken because it's about a man trying to rescue a child(ren) from trafficking, but the atmosphere and vehicle for storytelling is no where close to that. There aren't a bunch of action scenes with a Liam Neeson type beating up bad guys along with explosions and gun shots. What there is in the film is suspense, tragedy, emotion, grit. There's not a boisterous ensemble of music by an orchestra, it's a very subdued film. There are times the movie is very silent, and that's when you notice things around you. After the beginning of the film there aren't people munching on popcorn, nobody is playing on their phone, people aren't whispering to themselves, it's dead silent. It was so quiet at times you could hear a pin drop in the room. I'm not sure I've ever seen an audience quite like that. The theatre I went to wasn't terribly large, it was an older one in a small town that rarely has more than 10-20 people for a showing. This room was packed almost every seat with probably close to 90-100 if I had to guess.
What this film doesn't have: there's no conspiracy theories, there's no politics, there's no mentions of QAnon. It's a mostly true story about a man trying to save some kids. That's it, plain and simple. Anyone trying to say otherwise is completely full of bullshit, 100%. Any critics trying to make such a connection are full of bullshit and pushing an agenda. If you don't believe me go see the film for yourself. There's no excuses not to. People are donating tickets to pay it forward so others can see the film. Maybe it won't be the best film you've ever seen, but I think it's certainly worth the watch. Anyone that is a parent or has a heart will have a hard time not being moved by the story.
Anyone trying to tear this film down that hasn't seen it, know that you don't have a leg to stand on. If you're just parroting what media outlets have said, you really need to see the film for yourself with an open mind and judge for yourself. That's the entire reason why I went to see the film tonight and this film doesn't deserve what these critics are doing. I've checked some sites to see what liberties they took with the story, and very little was changed. What was changed doesn't change the message or belittles what was done.
Go see the movie and make your own judgement like I did.
