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‘Kandahar’ Review: Marooned in a Dull Movie

Everyone wants to find CIA undercover agent Tom Harris (Gerard Butler) who was stranded during a mission in Afghanistan, including Taliban, Iranian hounds, ISIS and a Pakistani secret agent. The only people who aren’t on his tail are those looking for a good action movie. “Kandahar” isn’t it.

In his third collaboration with director Rick Roman Waugh, following Greenland (2021, the best of the three) and 2019’s ‘Angel Flew Down’, Butler will be working with Tom on his films. As usual, I chose a rather inefficient means. Mo, a translator, stole a car while rushing to catch a flight from Kandahar, and it soon got a flat tire.

Besides being tepid at best, Tom is boring and has at least three more interesting characters than him. Chief among them is Moe, played by the excellent Navid Negahban (“Homeland”, “Aladdin”). Exiled from Afghanistan, he returned to his hometown to search for his sister-in-law. It’s a more compelling quest than Butler’s, and the main motive is… what exactly was he not late for his daughter’s London graduation? The titular star is constantly overshadowed by co-stars like Ali Fazal as a dashing motorcycle-riding Pakistani agent and Bahador Foradi as Iran’s counterpart to Inspector Jaber.

Even more infuriating is that “Kandahar” continues to raise girls and women. The Taliban are suppressing them on a massive scale. On a more intimate note, Tom is her absentee husband and father who doesn’t really give anyone decent screen time. Lip service only makes its absence more conspicuous.

Kandahar
R-rated for its language and outrageous rudeness. Running time: 2 hours. at the theater.

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