Civic Duty

To gauge the ongoing level of 9-11 paranoia in the United States all you need do is tune in any of their all-news TV channels and watch, as well as listen, to the anxiety on their faces and in their voices, the near-hysterical statements, the rantings and ravings of so-called experts who get paid to rant and rave. It is into this televised vision of doom that Terry Allen (Peter Krause) descends after he loses his job as an accountant. As if drugged by the constant stream of spoon-fed agnst, Terry begins to lose sleep and ultimately his mind watching round-the-clock news reports about America`s “War on Terror.” Almost fully paranoid himself, he turns his attention to Gabe Hassan (Khaled Abol Naga), a single Islamic grad student who has become a neighbour living in a sparsely furnished apartment across the courtyard. Meanwhile, Terry`s wife (Kari Matchett) can’t see what he sees and continues to go through life thinking the best of everyone. Both Terry`s wife and the FBI agent (Richard Schiff) to whom he reports his suspicions are skeptical, but Terry becomes increasingly obsessed with uncovering the man`s true identity. Convinced he`s all that stands between this Middle-Eastern stranger and a deadly terror attack, Terry finally decides to take matters into his own hands. Civic Duty is a UK-US-Canada coproduction.

Photo and poster courtesy of Christal Films. Used with permission.

Northernstars.ca reviews Civic Duty