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Human Cargo
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by Showtime Ent.
Sales Rank: 36298
Price: $9.98
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Though it opens with the type of "we're not saying all Arabs are bad" disclaimer (not to mention the dreaded "based on a true story" logo) that leads you to fear the worst, <I>Human Cargo</I> actually portrays its cultural conflicts with refreshing fairness. In 1979, John McDonald (nicely played by Treat Williams as less a blissful optimist than a desperate man concealing his indignation with a mask of willed hopefulness) goes to Saudi Arabia expecting to construct prefab homes in collaboration with a wealthy sheik. His supposed partners, however, are tight-fisted con men, who foist all expenses on McDonald's shoulders and are perfectly willing to throw him in jail and confiscate his passport when he balks at paying. The film is horrified at the plutocratic iniquities of the Saudi legal system, but it doesn't hesitate to place equal responsibility for the grotesque mess on its hero, who stubbornly expects everyone to play by the same rules that work in Texas. Ironically, the film's only disappointing stretch is the failed suspense of its final act, which details McDonald's method of escape. By then, we've been put through the wringers of business negotiations and contract wagering so successfully it feels like an anticlimactic Hardy Boys riff. <I>--Bruce Reid</I>
Viewer Reviews
Great movie. Nice portrayal of the darker side of life in Saudi Arabia. Leads one to once again ask why the U.S. is on such friendly terms with the Saudis, and is not more aggressive in pressing for human rights in that country. The answer, of course is oil. No war but class war.
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Human Cargo
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