Code Name: Geronimo (2012)

“100 per cent is hard to come by these days”

Capturing the build up, and execution, of the mission that would kill Osama bin Laden, John Stockwell’s independent war film puts the human touch on the Navy SEALS that would end this most tragic chapter in American history.

Since 9/11, the world has been bombarded with every type of popular culture depicting the War on Terror. Films, television series’, video games, and scores of internet chat rooms, have been dedicated to dissecting this most controversial topic, attempting to find some kind of universal truth to the events of that day, and its heartbreaking fallout. Needless to say, Stockwell’s film offers little in the way of closure on that topic - only a depiction of the death of a primary character, and becomes little more than an addition to an already crowded club.

Similar in style to a game of Call of Duty, or an episode of Homeland, Code Name: Geronimo plays out in a similarly fast-tempo fashion, jumping between several storylines, and constantly changing location in order to convey the global aspect of this event. We are given the triple-plot structure: the guys behind the desk, the guys behind the binoculars, and the guys behind the guns - all of whom fight for the same side.

The plot is quite simple: a source at the beginning of the movie (under extreme duress), offers some intelligence about a possible terrorist, hiding out in a rural part of Pakistan. From there, the mission becomes to locate and identify this suspect, and the evidence quickly begins to point very high up the Most Wanted list. Regardless of the inevitable outcome, this film asks all of the “what-ifs”.

We are offered some scant background on most of the SEALS involved, which gives a small degree of depth to their situation, but not nearly enough for audiences to become emotionally involved in their fate. Surface scratches are made at some of the big themes that emerge from being in the U.S. army - such as being separated from their kids, or fidelity between soldiers and their wives, but with little exploration, and certainly no solid conclusions.

There is a sense of relief as the mission builds to a tense gun-fight by the end of the film, almost reflective of the ten years it took to find, and kill, the al-Qaeda leader, but nothing seems solved. There is no sense of peace that emerges, just a desperate sadness that it had to come to this, and that the war goes on - something which Stockwell hints at by posting small bits of text during the credits about the ongoing situation.

The film does well to represent the American side of the story. We are shown the soldiers, and their varying reasons for being in the army, but little attention is given to the wider issues of the war. The story prefers to remain on one side of the fence, something which stops it becoming a considerable voice amongst all the others.

Despite sturdy performances from Prison Break alumni William Fichtner and Robert Knepper, the film fails to deliver a truly memorable cast. Most of the characters are given little amounts of screen time, and the result is a gang of forgettable and replaceable action-men.

The premise was daring, and the subject matter controversial, but the eventual execution lacked depth. Strong characters arcs and thematic discussions are substituted for needless action sequences and a short running time.