Review by James Lindorf
From the mind of Writer and Director Joe Chappelle (Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers) comes An Acceptable Loss, a political thriller that was picked up for distribution by IFC Films. Libby Lamm (Tika Sumpter) was the ultimate patriot, willing to doing anything to protect her country. Libby was a top national security advisor for Rachel Burke (Jamie Lee Curtis), a ruthless political veteran who signed off on a controversial military action that led to the death of thousands of innocents. Now four years later and wracked with guilt, Libby’s story could bring down the government. An Acceptable Loss will be available on January 18th.
An Acceptable Loss has many of the elements that make a great film. It is well shot, and it was well acted, especially by Curtis, who doesn’t have a huge role but dominates the screen every time she shows up. Unfortunately, its good elements are hampered by a lackluster plot. The story idea is interesting enough on its own, even if it isn’t entirely unique. The problem comes from the pacing and the absence of excitement.
Chappelle decided to build intrigue around the event that drove Libby from the government, instead of adding action to the film. He created the suspense by incorporating a large number of flashbacks, to the point it almost feels like a nonchronological film. The problem arises because the secret of what happened is a thinly veiled mystery. While you may not be able to guess every detail, enough of them are so clearly evident that you won’t be caught by surprise. The better mystery is what is the motivation behind Ben Tavassoli’s character Martin. It doesn’t become clear until the start of the climax if he is a stalker, a terrorist, an activist or someone out for revenge.
It was great to see a movie in a genre that is heavily dominated by men have two women in the most critical roles. With the split between the past and the present and the addition of Martin’s story, it left Libby underdeveloped. You never learn enough about her in the past to appreciate the differences in the present. An Acceptable Loss is a fine film, but its failure to do anything interesting means that it will fail to be memorable.
