7 Days in Entebbe is director’s José Padilha’s version of the true events that occurred just over 40 years ago in Uganda. In July of 1976, a small group of separatists set out to hijack an Air France flight headed from Tel-Aviv to Paris. Two of the terrorists (Rosamund Pike and Daniel Brühl) are a part of the German Revolutionary Cells, while the other two are members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations. The plane lands in Uganda where more members of the PFLP-EO are waiting and, more importantly, the Ugandan government, including Idi Amin (Nonso Anozie), is secretly backing their play. This where the real negotiating begins as demands are laid out, eventually leading to a bloody climax between the terrorists and Israeli forces. This political powder is about to explode and the whole world is watching.
Right from the beginning, you can tell that José Padilha is taking the “story over glory” approach. Unlike many other hostage movies that we’ve seen in recent years, 7 Days in Entebbe is more about the interaction between people, rather than maximizing carnage by going with an action first approach. The pace of the plot movies on the slow side with lots of flashbacks in order to fill in the gaps. The acting is decent for what it’s supposed to be. Intensity is displayed when required, and there are no glaring problems on that front.
Since this is based on true events, you should expect some slower moments in this film. The problem is that in its methodical dry approach, boredom sets in pretty quickly as does apathy. Fact based stories are tricky in that way. Unless you have a personal connection, there REALLY needs to be something that can universally suck you in. That is not the case with 7 Days in Entebbe. It’s only in the final stanza, do we start to see some real action.
Will 7 Days in Entebbe might be compelling to some, the vast majority of moviegoers will find this terrorist thriller lacking measurable thrilling moments. The 106 runtime felt like the full seven days for much of the movie. Unless you’re truly interested in this part of history, I’d recommend a connecting flight to a few other action-filled destinations at your local theater.
