Catch a Fire

An apolitical South African oil-refinery worker and soccer coach is forced into terrorism as a means of fighting back against the brutality of the apartheid regime in director Phillip Noyce's dramatic look at the life of one-time political prisoner and freedom fighter Patrick Chamusso. In the 1980s, ...more

Catch a Fire fits in well with a recent string of handsomely shot international political thrillers, such as The Quiet American, also directed by Phillip Noyce, and The Constant Gardener. Toss in apartheid and the timely topic of newly radicalized terrorism, and Catch a Fire should have been a surefire Oscar contender. But it fell into relative obscurity because it never quite does what the title suggests -- it never really ignites. Since Noyce has proven quite adept at this type of film, and ...more