Cleanskin (2012)

"Cleanskin"- an intelligence term for an operative that is off the radar and previously unknown to intelligence networks.

 I kind of waited out for this movie. My initial impression (without seeing it yet mind you) is that it would be another feel good film for the masses. "Good guy kills terrorists and we can all go home feeling better about the increasing security state" type of film. Well fuck was I wrong (not for the first time, lol) about this one.

A bit of a long movie its not so much action adventure (although it does have enough) but more of a drama. Kind of two parallel stories that intertwine. One story being of a British born Muslim man (played by Abhin Galeya)  who gets indoctrinated into the radicalized world of Islam. The other is a story of an Intelligence operative ( played by Sean Bean ) who's lost his wife to a suicide bomber attack and will kill any and all extremists his handlers tell him are a threat.

There's quite a few plot twists and the movie does show a bit more than most action films looking at things in a black and white perspective. You get the feeling throughout the film that both of the main characters are "being played" by their respective sides. Also there are elements in the film reminiscent of the real life Operation Gladio operations. The critics didn't like it but fuck them, any film that makes us a bit uncomfortable with our myth-conceptions is a good one in my books.

It's been out on video for a bit and if your attention span is better than a pet rock and intellect higher than most of the main stay "man fall down stairs ....funny" crowd, you'll be in for a good film. -EvS