Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Luecarou What begins as a feel-good-human-interest story turns into a mystery, then a tragedy, and ultimately an outrage.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

jotix100 After the New York World Trade Center attacks of Septemeber 11th, 2001, the climate in America has been one of suspicion of anything that might look as a terrorist threat again. The media and the law enforcement institutions have had a field day every time a new mention of possible aggression by sworn enemies comes out in the news. The danger comes always from people of Arab extraction, invariably, although there are many other groups involved in the same work. Even law abiding citizens of that ethnic background have had to suffer the indignities of being accused, perhaps unjustly, about this type of activity, which, in a way, is what comes out in the film.Terry Allen, an unemployed accountant, has too much time in his hands. His world is dominated by all recent events that have contributed to make him a man that feels surrounded by the dangerous environment he is bombarded by the media. Living with his photographer wife Marla, he begins spying on a young swarthy man, Hassan, that lives on the ground floor facing an inner courtyard of his apartment building.Terry becomes obsessed by what he sees Hassan do from his own window. He must try to do something, and what he ideates is to go to the FBI to denounce the irregularity. But alas, the agent he contacts, Tom Hilary, sees nothing wrong with the details Terry brings him. His own relationship with Marla goes from bad to worse. Terry Allen will not stop until he has a confrontation with Hassan, but is this poor man, who Terry believes he is? Is he the fanatic terrorist that will stop at nothing in order to damage the country? Jeff Renfroe, the director of the film, working with the mysterious Andrew Joiner screenplay, makes a case for the collective paranoia most people have lived for many years, where even a small occurrence can be seen as an imminent attack on our way of living.Peter Krause plays Terry Allen with a keen sense of knowing what makes this man tick. He has been betrayed by the system, so he is not going to stop to reason and let the higher authorities get involved in the danger he perceives. Kari Matchett is good as the suffering Marla. The excellent Richard Schiff is seen as the FBI man. Khaled Abol Naga has some intense moments in his confrontation with Terry.The film captures the claustrophobic atmosphere with Dylan MacLeod's camera work. The director gives the film a washed out tone that contributes to the mood and the effect the film has on its viewers. We shall look forward to Jeff Renfroe's films in the future and wish him well in everything he does.

absinthecarolinas The best thing I can say about 'Civic Duty' is that it makes me want to move out to Hollyland and get a job. They obviously need help.The problem with this film isn't just that it's not a good film (though, truly, it isn't very good); its problem is that it should probably never have been made. Here's why: The basic conflict in this kind of movie, by definition, is between paranoia and reality. Krause's character, however, is set up to be obviously paranoid. In any suspense thriller, a filmmaker must work *against* expectations. And in a *really* good suspense thriller, the filmmaker should even work against the expectation that he or she will be working against expectation. And in a truly *exceptional* film of this kind, you can repeat this process and flip reality several times.'Civic Duty' takes no such steps. Terry is suspicious about his neighbor from the first time he sees him, though for no real reason except overexposure to news media. There is very little effort (indeed, perhaps none at all) made to make the viewer suspect that perhaps the neighbor is, in fact, nefarious. We're simply waiting around to see how badly Krause will unravel.But that *still* doesn't address the heart of this movie's problem, which is that in the overwhelmingly liberal entertainment industry, it would be all but impossible to make a movie in which a character is paranoid about a mysterious Middle Eastern neighbor, only to find that said neighbor *is* in fact a "terrorist." It would be somewhat gutsy film-making, in fact, to make such a movie. And since Terry is riddled with paranoia, the filmmakers spoon-feeding us with several minutes of news footage and Bushspeak before the movie even gets underway, the movie simply has nowhere to go.And that's what it does. It goes nowhere.It would have worked better if it had been done the opposite way. Perhaps Terry could have a long-time friend or co-worker who's Middle Eastern. Perhaps a third party, an FBI agent or even his wife, could voice suspicions. Terry would defend his friend right to the end, only to end up going down in flames with him when the truth was finally revealed. That would have at least loaned a touch of dramatic irony. Or perhaps the FBI agent, or lead investigating character, could have himself been Middle Eastern, and the film could have shown that character's inner struggle: not wanting to believe that this hard-working master's candidate had something to hide vs. doing his duty to protect the American public, frustrated by always being required to investigate people of his own ethnic background. Of course, that would require the absence of Richard Schiff, who in my opinion was the movie's only saving grace (man, do I miss 'The West Wing'). Here's an even better scenario. Terry could have come to his senses about his paranoia toward the end of the second act. Amidst his embarrassment, he could have become reluctant friends with Gabe. Then he could discover that, not Gabe himself, but Gabe's associates at the copy shop were part of a terrorist cell and were 'using' Gabe as an unwitting 'mule' (or whatever). This would then provide motivation for Terry to again take action. His reluctance to end up looking foolish again would be outweighed by a sense of duty (nay, 'civic' duty) to Gabe, whom he is now motivated to protect since he put him through such an ordeal to begin with. Of course, Gabe would be reluctant to believe this. And perhaps the audience would again suspect that Gabe himself is knowingly involved. But in the end, it would be Gabe who would give his life to destroy the cell, thereby becoming a hero and doing his 'civic duty.' And there you have it: You could have had a good movie, and still been politically correct. Hell, the 'bad guys' don't even have to end up being Middle Eastern. They could have been pale white corporate crooks, perhaps selling information or materials to "terrorists" who themselves are never seen. The only Middle Easterner in the film would turn out to be the hero. Then you could have your movie and still be *completely* politically correct. But as it stands, 'Civic Duty' goes exactly where you think it's going to go the moment you see the photo on the DVD box and read the description. Because it has nowhere else to go. Which brings me back to my original point: Who the heck greenlights such projects?? How can you set out to make a suspense thriller when the outcome, for largely political reasons, is practically a foregone conclusion. I'm really not trying to advance my own ideology here. I'm just demonstrating how politics has gotten in the way of good entertainment and quality storytelling.

Michael O'Keefe Slow thriller that builds steam slowly...then the damn lid blows off. Terry Allen(Peter Krause)is a CPA that gets laid off from his job post 9-11. His wife Maria(Kari Matchett)believes he has way too much time on his hands. Terry becomes obsessed with possible terrorists after spending much of his days and nights watching national news on the subject. When a "middle-eastern" man, Gabe Hassan(Khaled Abol Naga), moves into a neighboring apartment; Terry believes he has uncovered a suspicious terrorist conspiracy. How far will he go to protect homeland security? Why doesn't somebody just grab this guy by the throat and slap some sense into him? Its a movie, that's why. Watching paranoia make Terry sweat is the source that fries your nerves. Also featured are Richard Schiff and Ian Tracey.

Roald Pettersen According to this film, you should never notify the FBI or other authorities if you get a suspicious neighbor. Not even if he looks like a terrorist and has a chemistry lab and receives constant deliveries from other suspicious-looking people. And especially not if you just lost your job and your wife just left you. They will just think you are paranoid and put you in an asylum, even if it turns out in the end that you were right all along. This is one of the reasons why terrorists have succeeded so far. This is how they put the first bomb in WTC and carried through their second assault. This is how they made the bomb for the Lockerbie accident and got it on board. People did not care, or were afraid of the unpleasantness to themselves if they notified the authorities.