There has been a lot of chatter about the film ‘Sound Of Freedom’, most of it – thankfully – for the right reasons. Because given the subject matter, this is a film that should be seen, not debated.
Faith-based but not as religious as you might see advertised in some corners and certainly not the left wing v.s. right wing soapbox piece that some are making it out to be (or perhaps better put, it shouldn’t be), ‘Sound Of Freedom’ is a thriller about the rescue of children from sex trafficking and sex enslavement. Thus, lightning rod, meet your controversy.
The fact is, despite the modest budget and the lack of studio support (the movie reportedly sat on the shelf, post production, for five years), this is a decent-looking movie from director Alejandro Monteverde, sporting a committed performance from Jim Caviezel, who hasn’t had a dance ticket for a mainstream film in quite some time. Despite what you might think of Caviezel off camera, it’s tough to argue that he’s the primary force behind how this one feels…and that ‘feel’ is, for the most part, intense. And effective.
Based on the true story of Tim Ballard, a former Homeland Security agent who abandons his position to head to Colombia to rescue child victims from sex trafficking, ‘Sound Of Freedom’ never gets overly graphic in its depiction of the horror, although Monteverde makes certain we get the idea. It ain’t pretty. And, like a lot of fact-based cinema, it inevitably takes a few Hollywood liberties (Ballard has even admitted as much). But despite the inescapable stereotypes and melodrama, ‘Sound Of Freedom’ works. It’s not only a tightly-wound thriller, it’s important. And while sheer entertainment obviously holds a rightful spot in our hearts, movies that hold importance are, unfortunately, becoming a bit of a rarity.