Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Monteverde made a considerable splash with his 2006 directorial debut Bella, which earned top honors at TIFF. Monteverde followed this up with the 2015 WWII drama Little Boy, which received negative reviews and underperformed financially. Around this time, he and co-writer Rod Barr started writing a script about anti-human trafficking activist Tim Ballard. The screenplay was a biopic about his life, specifically how he went from Homeland Security officer to human rights activist. Ballard requested Jim Caviziel to portray him after enjoying his role in 2002’s The Count of Monte Cristo. The movie was shot in 2018 with 20th Century Fox distributing, only to be shelved once Disney acquired Fox. After the producers repurchased the rights, they searched for a distributor for the next five years before finding Angel Studios. After numerous delays, Sound of Freedom finally hit theaters on July 4th, 2023.
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Synopsis
Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard (Jim Caviezel) is tasked with tracking down pedophiles and anyone distributing child pornography. While he can put several offenders behind bars, he’s upset that he hasn’t saved a single child. Ballard decides to trick Ernst Ohinsky (Kris Avedisian) into meeting child trafficker Earl Buchanan (Gary Basaraba), arresting them both. Through Buchanan’s arrest, Ballard saves Miguel (Lucás Ávila), a Honduran child kidnapped with his sister Rocío (Cristal Aparicio). Ballard promises Miguel and his father Roberto (José Zúñiga) to find Rocío and flies to Cartagena to pursue a lead. After meeting with former cartel member Vampiro (Bill Camp), Ballard establishes a fake club for a sting operation. Despite his boss Frost (Kurt Fuller) telling him to pull the plug, Ballard is determined to bring Rocío home. He’ll go beyond the call of duty, so Rocío and thousands of children will sing the Sound of Freedom.
Review
Sound of Freedom is a movie I had never heard before until it exploded out of nowhere on the internet. I hadn’t seen a single trailer for this, but I got curious once I saw several YouTube videos discussing it. Having seen it, I can see why it’s getting so much attention, and there are good qualities to be found. Alejandro Monteverde does a competent job behind the camera and remains reserved with the material. It would’ve been easy to slip into exploitation territory, but he gives us just enough to infer what’s happening. Also, Jim Caviezel gives what’s easily one of the best performances of his career, and he cares about the material. His biggest strength is conveying a wide range of emotions at once through his eyes without saying a word. Granted, most of his dialogue sounds like lines explicitly made for the trailer.
Another highlight is Bill Camp, playing a former cartel boss dedicated to saving children from captivity. He provides some levity while remembering when to pull back the comedy and get serious. I also have to commend Cristal Aparicio and Lucás Ávila for what had to be a challenging role. The rest of the supporting cast is good, though Mira Sorvino and Kurt Fuller don’t contribute much. Like many “based on a true story” movies, this one embellishes plenty of details, which hurts the central message. As many have pointed out, this movie doesn’t accurately portray the reality of child trafficking, instead reinforcing Hollywood stereotypes. While I commend the filmmakers for spotlighting this issue, I urge you to research before saying you know better. Overall, Sound of Freedom is a decent thriller, but it doesn’t fully address the reality of the situation.
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I wish Terry was around to see this