Review – Catch a Fire

For some reason 2006 seems to have been a great year for terrific yet largely-ignored pictures. In this example, Derek Luke plays Patrick Chamusso, a black man trying to make an honest living in Apartheid South Africa. After he and his wife are brutalized by the police, he decides to seek revenge by joining the ANC. The result is a touching tale more than a little evocative of the Bob Marley lyrics that provide the title. Tim Robbins also does a solid job as the anti-terrorism officer responsible for the torture that transforms Chamusso from peaceful worker to revolutionary. The reality of the “true story” is brought home by the appearance of Chamusso himself at the end. Though the monstrous regime that spawned these events is no more, this is still a valuable lesson in a well-assembled package. Worth seeing