bkoganbing I wish I could write a better review of The Pirates Of Somalia. That is certainly one troubled land for the past 30 or so years. When the action of this film takes place in 2008 it was hardly even a country, a geographical expression at best.Years ago when Lebanon was in a similar state and to some extent still is I read that President Gemayel controlled maybe 10 blocks square around the presidential palace in Beirut. That about sums up the situation in Somalia with different warlords controlling a piece of turf over a country a lot bigger than Lebanon.Doing a paper on Somalia at the University of Toronto, young Jay Bahadur played here by Evan Peters wants a journalistic career and seeks the advice of a legendary reporter. Playing said reporter Al Pacino basically says seek out a subject and write. Make sure it's something no one else has already covered to death.Being a country with a nice long sea coast, any number of these Somalian warlords have gone into piracy for profit. At the same time that Bahadur was gathering material for his Somalia story, the world watched as some of these pirates took Captain Phillips hostage.Sad to say that the nature of that story a spine tingling adventure sort of wrote itself for the screen with Tom Hanks giving an acclaimed performance. I wish that this one had been juiced up a bit or at least 20 to 30 minutes had been cut out. The pace of The Pirates Of Somalia is agonizingly slow at times.Al Pacino really stands out. No doubt put it the film for a little box office juice, he also picks up the pace with a quirky performance. He's in at the beginning and toward the end. I wish we could have worked him in more.The Pirates Of Somalia is a story that needed telling. But fortify yourself with a bit of caffeine before watching.

pontus-randen Apart from the two poster names, which came off as quite cheezy, this movie was incredibly well made and the acting was great from all included. And in the middle of it all it managed to be funny also. Not bad.Every action has a reaktion. .

lavatch There is a revealing moment in "The Pirates of Somalia" when the Canadian journalist Jay Bahadur has a conversation with Maryan, one of numerous wives of a Somali pirate. When asked to describe Jay's clothes, Maryan says that they are "bland." That word is the touchstone for this long and drawn-out film about journalistic integrity.While residing in the basement of his parents' home, the struggling journalist Bahadur keeps on his wall a poster of the film "All the President's Men," as Woodward and (especially) Berstein are his idols. Jay also links up with the old-style journalist Seymour Tolbin, who is played with his characteristic gusto by Al Pacino in a cameo performance. The beleaguered Bahadur travels to Somalia at his own expense to conduct a freelance study of Somali pirates in the year 2008. Most of the film is comprised of lengthy interviews conducted with manic energy by Bahadur, his body guard, and his translator, all of whom get high on "khat" for the interviews. Long cartoon "fantasy" or "dream" segments interrupt the action, as the filmmakers needlessly extend the film's action. Meeting Maryan is a breath of fresh air for both Bahadur and the audience of this film.The film opened with a reference to the firebrand speaker Mario Savio and his "Operation of the Machine" speech in the 1950s at the University of California, Berkeley, that argued for the individual striving to avoid becoming a cog in the corporate machine of America. "The Pirates of Somalia" has a pretentious manner in trying to depict the power of words of a dedicated journalist that transformed American diplomatic policy towards Somalia. The dreaded word of Bahadur was the use of "unfortunately" in the rejection letters he received from publishers. But this film failed to deliver on the feel-good message about a modern Citizen Kane . Unfortunately, there is no Rosebud to this bland story.

Gordon-11 This film tells the story of a young man who goes to Somalia, hoping to kick start his journalism career.I thought this would be an action thriller, but it turns out to be a comedy drama, which is a pleasant surprise. I like the fact that this film portrays the other side of the story, and preaches people to be tolerant and accepting of others. If we open up our hearts, we can make friends anywhere!