It's difficult to comment on this movie being from Spain since it depicts a part of our recent history that is very controversial. There will always be a suspicion that a bad or a good review depends on the political ideology of the writer.
While I don't believe it is possible to absolutely turn off one's beliefs I think certain elements of a film can be judged objectively. Take a film like JFK for example. Many have criticed what the film says but most have praised how it says it (there are more radical examples like the propaganda films that were made for Hitler or Lenin).
GAL is a movie about journalists that try to uncover the clandestine actions of a democratic government in their fight against terrorism.
This an exciting premise which GAL is unable to develop satisfactorily. The movie is never thrilling or even too interesting. Sometimes it is even incomprehensive from a narrative point of view.
The actors don't help much. Jordi Mollá makes a cartoon out of his character and we don't'care much for the journalists. Everything seems a bit superficial and underdeveloped. The world the movie depicts and the people that live in it seem a bit fake.
For a thriller that is based on real events, these are all very big problems.
While I don't believe it is possible to absolutely turn off one's beliefs I think certain elements of a film can be judged objectively. Take a film like JFK for example. Many have criticed what the film says but most have praised how it says it (there are more radical examples like the propaganda films that were made for Hitler or Lenin).
GAL is a movie about journalists that try to uncover the clandestine actions of a democratic government in their fight against terrorism.
This an exciting premise which GAL is unable to develop satisfactorily. The movie is never thrilling or even too interesting. Sometimes it is even incomprehensive from a narrative point of view.
The actors don't help much. Jordi Mollá makes a cartoon out of his character and we don't'care much for the journalists. Everything seems a bit superficial and underdeveloped. The world the movie depicts and the people that live in it seem a bit fake.
For a thriller that is based on real events, these are all very big problems.