Cert – 15, Run-time – 2 hours 11 minutes, Director – Alejandro Monteverde
A government agent (Jim Caviezel) who has captured hundreds of paedophiles in the US becomes set on rescuing children from international sex trafficking
Sound Of Freedom’s open credits features CCTV footage of children being abducted from the streets. It further sets in the dark tone of the subject matter at hand. It’s almost undeniable that the theme of child sex trafficking is going to include some uncomfortable moments, and that’s certainly the case as we see a group kidnapping take place and where the children themselves end up. A number of scenes throughout the film may be as subtle as a strobe neon light, but they manage to get the drama across and as a whole things are watchable.
It therefore makes the confused tonal shift about an hour in even more odd. As government agent Tim Ballard (Jim Caviezel) having spent his career capturing paedophiles in the US becomes set on rescuing children from trafficking his contacts grow and a plan comes together. As a trap is set to lure in traffickers the faux lightness that the characters put on almost becomes a lighter tone overall. The seriousness is still present but the tone appears to have shifted leaving an odd feeling to the proceedings – especially when the film attempts to bring in a light chuckle or two (literally two failed attempts before it realises it shouldn’t and moves on).
Each time it feels as if things are climbing back up to their initial line of being not-great-but-watchable they dip back to being a tonal struggle. Perhaps not wobbling as much as Caviezel’s performance, not helped by dialogue which sounds like someone throwing a tin pan down a staircase, but still not managing to properly engage due to seemingly confusing tone with what the characters are presenting in order to rescue the missing children – Tim’s mission is fully ignited when a rescued eight-year-old boy (Lucás Ávila) asks about his older sister (Cristal Aparicio) who was kidnapped alongside him at a fake audition which opens the film.
Even as the film tries to get back to where it was clunky dialogue, and a feeling of a slightly overlong run-time, prevents it from doing so. At the end in what’s labelled as a “special message” Caviezel speaks to the audience, before introducing a pay-it-forward QR code for tickets, about the heroes of the film. It’s not about his character, it’s about the brother and sister at the centre of it. Certainly, when focusing on and remembering them the film is most effective and at its best. As Ballard and co’s plan to rescue “God’s children” unfolds a tonal jumble begins, one which certainly posits them as the big, tough gang of heroes with equally big hearts. Once the film trips over itself it never manages to get back to where it was which while not great still had some engagement factor.
Sound Of Freedom trips itself up in a clunky tonal jumble which prevents it from re-reaching its initial engaging, if unsubtle, style.
Just A Little Bit Random 