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Tim Robbins, Derek Luke, Bonnie Henna, Mncedisi Shabangu, Tumisho K. Masha ... see more see more... , Sithembiso Khumalo , Terry Pheto , Michele Burgers , Mpho Lovinga , Mxo , Jessica Anstey , Charlotte Savage , Nomhle Nkonyeni , Michael Mabizela , Eduan Van Jaarsveld , Robert Hobbs , Onthatile Ramasodi , Ziizi Mahlati , Malcolm Purkey , Robyn Slovo , Bubu Mazibuko , Harriet Manamela , Susan Danford , Justin Shaw , Anthony Bishop , Marius Weyers , Richard Nwamba , Vanessa Cooke , Martin LeMaitre , Carel Trichardt , Brandon Auret , Sibusiso Mhlongo , Lennox Mathabathe , Kgosi Mongake , Eckard Rabe , Dan Robbertse , Ian Roussouw , Anrich Herbst , Jet Novuka , Waldemar Schultz , Mathoto Matsetela , Jabulani Ngwenya , Kgaugelo Mpharala , David Tumahole , Mantele Khomane , Khutjo Mmola , Dexter Nwanya , Kholosa Tshandana , Mpho Osei Tutu , Makgano Mamabolo , Jonathan Pienaar , Grant Brett Swanby , Thabo Bopape , Erno Van Dyk , Dirk Vermeulen , Johan Van Der Merwe , Bongani Manok , Mahlubi Kraai , Neels Classen , Onalenna Mokoboto , Patrick Chamusso , Thandiswa , Zamajobe Sithole , Fiorha Ntshauba , Siphokazi Maroqana , Dolly Gaehler , Erik Pilani , Ezra Erasmus , Liaan Adriaan , Michael Phillip Simpson , David Mbatha , Sindi Nontshinya , Mirriam "Angela" Doshane , Bongani Dlamini , Bongani Maseko , James Zuma , Joseph Ngobeni , Khali Phithi , Malibongwe Yawu , Sibongiseni Phakathi , Thabo Magaretsa , Veli Mavuso , Vusi Simelane , Zakhele Mabaso , Bonnie Mbuli

An apolitical South African oil-refinery worker and soccer coach is forced into terrorism as a means of fighting back against the brutality of the apartheid regime in director Phillip Noyce's dramatic... read more read more... look at the life of one-time political prisoner and freedom fighter Patrick Chamusso. In the 1980s, Patrick (Derek Luke) and his wife Precious (Bonnie Henna) lived a peaceful life until one fateful day, when on an overnight trip with his team, Patrick is singled out as the prime suspect in a bombing at the refinery. Placed in solitary confinement, with his wife and family brutalized by government agent Nic Vos (Tim Robbins), the young family man is eventually cleared of charges, but his life is in shambles. Devastated and distraught, Patrick soon begins working as a rebel fighter and political operative for Nelson Mandela's African National Congress. As the oppressed country's powerful apartheid regime continues to torture and torment its citizens, the now-radicalized Patrick must disappear from his family without a trace and go undercover if he is to aid in toppling the system that destroyed his family, and forever changed his outlook on the world. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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63% liked it

28,185 ratings

Critics

76% liked it

140 critics

PG-13, 2 min.

Directed by: Phillip Noyce

Release Date: October 27, 2006

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DVD Release Date: January 30, 2007

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Stats: 1,068 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,068)

  • sanjurosamurai
    August 16, 2010
    sanjurosamurai
    great film. derek luke and tim robbins put out two great performances and at times in the flick youre not sure which side to root for even though you know apartied is wrong. they really did this well and you can see the struggle of the opressed.
  • ScoopOnline
    December 22, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    Liloh: And I realized nothing has changed. And I dont think South Africa will be ever Free from Whites and their terror against em.

    This Movie was more than just a Movie. A great Friends recommendation and long review on her experience and the review on the movie made me ... read morewatch this Movie twice.

    Thank you Lilo
  • fb619846742
    April 10, 2009
    fb619846742
    A well-documented thriller that features a powerhouse performance from Derek Luke as a man descending into hatred and rebellion after government wrecks his ideal life apart. Robbins gives a very restrained performance in this one, a little too restrained for my taste, however, th... read moreis movie is all about Luke. It's a familiar setting, with a few turns in the plot that I didn't completely buy into, however, the positives outweigh the negatives here. The ending packs a swift emotional blow, especially seeing Luke being able to interact with the real Patrick Chamusso at the end of the film.
  • LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    December 5, 2008
    LorenzoVonMatterhorn
    "The spark that ignites us, unites us."

    Patrick Chamusso is an honest oil refinery foreman. When he is interrogated about a terrorist attack at the refinery on his shift, he produces false alibi, which worsen his condition. His jail time experience pushes him across the... read more line, and he joins the African National Congress.

    Review
    The film is a well set drama about people struggling for their freedom in their own country, South Africa, based on a true story. As "Hotel Rwanda" and "Shooting Dogs" before, this one is a great peace of entertaining, while it won't leave you indifferent to what actually happened. It's emotional power is impressive, especially for every africanophile. Still, it remains a movie, relating some facts, but not the whole truth. The movie does certainly not use up all of its great potential. At the end, it turns to be a bit too hasty, and important events which would have enriched the story are left behind.
  • Chiefilms
    March 3, 2008
    Chiefilms
    Descent film, not impacting enough to remember.
  • deano
    March 25, 2007
    deano
    A bit familiar to Cry Freedom, but it has full journey story of sabotage, corruption and murder. Derek Luke makes a good performance as a real-life former freedom fighter Patrick Chammuso.
  • YLOWBSTARDreturns
    March 12, 2007
    YLOWBSTARDreturns
    Very good political thriller.
  • flickfever
    November 16, 2006
    flickfever
    This movie was definitely a good political thriller. Tim Robbins gives one of the best performances of his career as the hard and harsh leader of a covert pack of terrorist investigators working for the CIA in Africa. When an attack is performed at a local village's power plant, ... read morethe buzz of rebel terrorist automatically makes every black man and woman a suspect in the "white-controlled" plant surroundings.

    Derek Luke is prime suspect number one due to his foreman position; but he, of course, has nothing to do with it. The audience knows it, but the powerfully corrupt CIA operatives go to extreme lengths to prove him wrong. In the process, innocents suffer, reputations and lives are shattered and lost and the promise of a better future remains the motivation for overcoming hatred and being able to forgive.

    The story is a typical cat-and-mouse-prove-my-innocence-at-all-costs kind of stroyline, but it works because it's based on a true story. The events that transpired during Apartheid in Africa during these turbulent years is genuinely and nakedly represented on film. The outpouring of resentment from the native Africans against the intruding white Africaners permeates every scene of the film. Definitely catch this fire-- at least on DVD.
  • gator681
    November 7, 2006
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]"Catch a Fire" takes place in 1980 when Patrick Chamusso(Derek Luke) is a black South African working as a foreman in a Transvaal oil refinery. He is the father of two children, husband to Precious(Bonnie Henna) and the coach of the local boys' soccer team. ... read more He is away for a playoff game when an explosion rocks the refinery where he works. Patrick is arrested by the police, headed by the white detective Nic Vos(Tim Robbins), who suspects him of the bombing due to a shaky alibi, not helped out by visiting another woman at the time. His interrogation and incarceration changes this formerly apolitical family man forever...[/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic]Based on a true story, "Catch a Fire" is a well-paced political thriller that starts slowly and climaxes well. But it fades badly with an epilogue that is simply looking around for billboard space to rent. Still, the acting is first-rate, especially Tim Robbins, giving one of his best performances.[/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic]The movie takes a superficial view at the politics at the time and does not delve into the reasons why there was resistance. For example, little oppression is shown that is not connected to the bombings.(One might conclude that the movie is saying that there would be no police crackdown if everybody just kept their heads down and avoided politics altogether.) It is interesting to note that Chamusso and Vos both act to defend their families, but find totally different ways to do so.[/font]
  • jeffboam
    March 7, 2011
    jeffboam
    In watching the compelling Apartheid-set bio-pic Catch a Fire, one cannot help but think back to Cry Freedom, Richard Attenborough's poignant but overlong portrait of slain non-violent South African activist Steven Biko (Denzel Washington) and his unlikely friendship with a white... read more reporter (Kevin Kline). With Fire, director Phillip Noyce tackles the other side of the coin, chronicling the rise of an anti-apartheid "terrorist" and his antagonistic relationship with a white colonel, all within a breezy running time that keeps the action taut.

    In this R-rated South African-set thriller, hard-working family man Patrick Chamusso (Luke) truly turns revolutionary after he is wrongly accused and tortured for a crime by Police Security Branch operative Nic Vos (Robbins) in the early '80s.

    No stranger to political intrigue, Noyce (Patriot Games, Rabbit-Proof Fence) presents a 1980s-set true story made all the more timely by the events of September 11, a point he capitalizes on. After Vos (representing foreign govt.) tortures the innocent Chamusso (representing persecuted natives), the latter's motives for turning radically political become starkly obvious, paralleling a certain Western power's occupation of modern-day Iraq. Catch a Fire also gives a powerful combo in Robbins and Luke, who bring their respective characters' moral ambiguity to light with a gripping intensity--perhaps too well. Noyce shows us family man Chamusso's philandering while concurrently portraying Vos's nearly perfect home life with middling results. As the real-life Chamusso's appearance at the end makes clear, this is HIS story, not that of the top-billed Robbins. Perhaps, Focus Features just wanted to get their money's worth out of the Oscar-winner.

    Bottom line: Once you catch it, you won't let go.

View All Catch a Fire Reviews

Critic Reviews

Rex Reed
November 1, 2006
Rex Reed, New York Observer

Despite Mr. Noyce's attempt to achieve a sense of balance and restraint, the material covers an overly familiar landscape with no special insight or sense of purpose. Full Review

Roger Moore
November 1, 2006
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

Catch a Fire ignites, incites and informs as few other movies of the fall do. Full Review

Christy Lemire
November 1, 2006
Christy Lemire, Associated Press

Catch a Fire is confident enough to depict the battle from all sides. Full Review

Richard Roeper
October 31, 2006
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

[The film is] complex. It's rich. I think it's well-done. Full Review

Carla Meyer
October 28, 2006
Carla Meyer, Dallas Morning News

Patrick Chamusso, the refinery foreman played by Derek Luke in Catch a Fire, brims with energy, whether he's dancing to a Donna Summer song or coaching the local youth soccer team. Full Review

John Hartl
October 27, 2006
John Hartl, Newsweek

Smoothly directed by Phillip Noyce, the movie relies heavily on well-staged action sequences and two gifted actors to keep its familiar tale from appearing stale. Full Review

Ruthe Stein
October 27, 2006
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle

Noyce's straightforward, almost documentary style is especially effective, considering that so many incidents happened pretty much the way they're portrayed. Full Review

Stephen Whitty
October 27, 2006
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

Although Catch a Fire was clearly done for the right reasons, the movie dissipates its own tensions. Full Review

Lou Lumenick
October 27, 2006
Lou Lumenick, New York Post

A political thriller that thankfully sidesteps the offensive convention of exploring Africa's suffering through the eyes of a white protagonist.

Jack Mathews
October 27, 2006
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News

Thanks to a terrifically shaded performance by Robbins, Vos comes across as a complex character with clearly ambivalent feelings about his task and his place in the apartheid system. Full Review

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