An Ordinary Man

Last updated
An Ordinary Man
An Ordinary Man (film).jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Brad Silberling
Written byBrad Silberling
Produced byBrad Silberling
Ben Kingsley
Rick Dugdale
StarringBen Kingsley
Hera Hilmar
Peter Serafinowicz
CinematographyMagdalena Górka
Edited byLeo Trombetta
Music by Christophe Beck
Chilly Gonzales
Production
companies
Enderby Entertainment
Reveal Entertainment
Lavender Pictures
Distributed by Saban Films
Release dates
  • 27 April 2017 (2017-04-27)

(Bif&st)
  • 13 April 2018 (2018-04-13)

(United States)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

An Ordinary Man is a 2017 American drama thriller film written, directed and produced by Brad Silberling. It stars Ben Kingsley, Hera Hilmar and Peter Serafinowicz. [1] [2] Filmed in Belgrade, Serbia in 2015, it was screened at the Bari International Film Festival in April 2017 and picked up in February 2018 by Saban Films, [3] who released it direct-to-video in June 2018. [4]

Contents

Plot

A war criminal is hiding in plain sight in an unnamed Balkan country. He is wanted internationally for ethnic cleansing and war crimes, but his country pretends his whereabouts to be unknown despite international pressures to turn him in. A retinue of loyalists watches over him and ensures his safety as he goes about his life in a city where his face is well known. He begins to form a relationship with his newly hired maid, Tanja, after he expresses loneliness to her. Initially treating her abusively, he gradually forms an awkward friendship with her. She is later revealed to be an agent who is hired to protect him. She reluctantly drives him to the cemetery in his home village. His driver, who had been waiting for them, kills her on the spot, and drives the General back to his apartment in the city. The last scene shows him awaiting his arrest, seated at his kitchen table, with a handgun and bullets laid out in front of him.

The character of the General is based on Ratko Mladić, who was ultimately sentenced to life in prison for war crimes committed in the Bosnian war. [5]

Cast

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 41%, based on 22 reviews, and an average rating of 4.9/10. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Kingsley</span> English actor (born 1943)

Sir Ben Kingsley is an English actor. He has received accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. Kingsley was appointed Knight Bachelor in 2002 for services to the British film industry. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010 and received the Britannia Award in 2013.

<i>Suspect Zero</i> 2004 American psychological thriller film

Suspect Zero is a 2004 psychological thriller film directed by E. Elias Merhige and starring Aaron Eckhart, Ben Kingsley, and Carrie-Anne Moss. The film was produced by Tom Cruise's co-owned company Cruise/Wagner Productions. It was a box office bomb, failing to earn half of its estimated $27 million production costs

<i>Moonlight Mile</i> (film) 2002 American film

Moonlight Mile is a 2002 American romantic drama film written and directed by Brad Silberling, and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon and Holly Hunter, with Ellen Pompeo and Dabney Coleman in supporting roles. The film was loosely inspired by Silberling's experiences from grieving for his girlfriend, Rebecca Schaeffer, after she was murdered in 1989, as well as his relationship with her parents following her death.

<i>Lucky Number Slevin</i> 2006 film directed by Paul McGuigan

Lucky Number Slevin is a 2006 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Paul McGuigan and written by Jason Smilovic. The film stars Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu, Bruce Willis, Stanley Tucci, Ben Kingsley, and Morgan Freeman.

<i>Elegy</i> (film) 2008 film by Isabel Coixet

Elegy is a 2008 American romantic drama film directed by Isabel Coixet from a screenplay by Nicholas Meyer, based on the 2001 novel The Dying Animal by Philip Roth. The film stars Penélope Cruz and Ben Kingsley, with Peter Sarsgaard, Patricia Clarkson, and Dennis Hopper in supporting roles. The film was set in New York City but was shot in Vancouver.

<i>Fifty Dead Men Walking</i> 2008 British film

Fifty Dead Men Walking is a 2008 English-language crime thriller film written and directed by Kari Skogland. It is a loose adaptation of Martin McGartland's 1997 autobiography of the same name. It premiered in September 2008, and stars Jim Sturgess as McGartland, a British agent who went undercover into the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), and Ben Kingsley as Fergus, his British handler.

<i>Stonehearst Asylum</i> 2014 film

Stonehearst Asylum, previously known as Eliza Graves, is an American psychological horror film directed by Brad Anderson and written by Joseph Gangemi. It is loosely based on the 1845 short story "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" by Edgar Allan Poe. The film, starring Kate Beckinsale, Jim Sturgess, Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, and David Thewlis, was released on October 24, 2014.

<i>Yella</i> (film) 2007 German film

Yella is a 2007 German drama-thriller film written and directed by Christian Petzold and starring Nina Hoss. The film is an unofficial remake of the 1962 American film Carnival of Souls. Yella premiered at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival where Hoss won the Silver Bear for Best Actress award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hera Hilmar</span> Icelandic actress (born 1988)

Hera Hilmarsdóttir, known professionally as Hera Hilmar, is an Icelandic actress. She has been active in the film industry since 1995.

<i>Fear Is the Key</i> (film) 1972 film by Michael Tuchner based on the 1961 novel

Fear Is the Key is a 1972 British action thriller film directed by Michael Tuchner and starring Barry Newman and Suzy Kendall. It is based on the 1961 novel of the same title by Alistair MacLean. It was the feature film debut of Ben Kingsley. The soundtrack is by Roy Budd.

<i>War Machine</i> (2017 film) 2017 American film

War Machine is a 2017 American satirical war comedy film written and directed by David Michôd and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Michael Hall, Anthony Hayes, Topher Grace, Will Poulter, Tilda Swinton, and Ben Kingsley. Based on the nonfiction book The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan by Michael Hastings, it is a fictionalized version of the events in the book based on United States Army General Stanley McChrystal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Dugdale</span> Canadian film producer

Rick Dugdale is a Canadian film producer. He is the President and CEO of Enderby Entertainment and co-founder of Vuele.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casper the Friendly Ghost in film</span> Feature length filmography based on Casper the Friendly Ghost

The cartoon character, Casper the Friendly Ghost who appears in numerous cartoon shorts as well as Harvey Comics publication, has appeared in five films since his inception, most of which were either released in television or straight-to-video while only one was released theatrically. Many for the most part are unrelated to each other. Like in the comics and animated shorts, the films feature Casper, a ghost of a deceased child, who refused to frighten others and would like nothing more than to be friendly around the world, due to the nature of what he appears to be, it would often get him shunned by whoever he encounters, but along the way, he would find and befriend a certain someone he could identify himself with, and would often help that someone in need.

<i>The Assignment</i> (2016 film) 2016 film

The Assignment is an action crime thriller film directed by Walter Hill and co-written by Hill and Denis Hamill. The film stars Michelle Rodriguez, Tony Shalhoub, Anthony LaPaglia, Caitlin Gerard, and Sigourney Weaver.

<i>The Oath</i> (2016 film) 2016 film

The Oath is a 2016 Icelandic thriller film written by Ólafur Egill Egilsson, and co-written and directed by Baltasar Kormákur, who also plays the leading role. It was screened in the Special Presentations section at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. It was the most popular movie in Icelandic theaters in 2016.

<i>The Ottoman Lieutenant</i> 2017 American film

The Ottoman Lieutenant is a Turkish-American romantic war drama film directed by Joseph Ruben and written by Jeff Stockwell. The film stars Michiel Huisman, Hera Hilmar, Josh Hartnett and Ben Kingsley. The film was released widely on March 10, 2017.

<i>Night Hunter</i> (2018 film) 2019 Canadian-American action thriller film

Night Hunter is a 2018 Canadian action thriller film written and directed by David Raymond. The film stars Henry Cavill, Ben Kingsley, Alexandra Daddario, and Stanley Tucci, with Brendan Fletcher, Minka Kelly, and Nathan Fillion in supporting roles. It premiered at the LA Film Festival on September 28, 2018, originally titled as Nomis. It was later released on August 8, 2019, by DirecTV on video on demand and theatrically on September 6, 2019, by Saban Films.

<i>Operation Finale</i> 2018 film directed by Chris Weitz

Operation Finale is a 2018 American historical dramatic thriller film directed by Chris Weitz from a screenplay by Matthew Orton about a 1960 clandestine operation by Israeli commandos to capture former SS officer Adolf Eichmann, and transport him to Jerusalem for trial on charges of crimes against humanity. The film stars Oscar Isaac as the Mossad officer Peter Malkin, and Ben Kingsley as Eichmann, with Lior Raz, Mélanie Laurent, Nick Kroll, and Haley Lu Richardson. Several source materials, including Eichmann in My Hands, by Peter Malkin and Harry Stein, provided the basis for the story.

<i>Mara</i> (film) 2018 American film

Mara is a 2018 American supernatural horror film directed by Clive Tonge in his feature-length debut and written by Jonathan Frank. The film stars Olga Kurylenko as criminal psychologist Kate Fuller, who investigates the murder of a man and is haunted by the eponymous demon who kills people in their sleep. The film also stars Craig Conway. Tonge and Frank based the film's story on conditions and mythology surrounding both sleep paralysis and Brugada syndrome. The film was released by Saban Films on September 7, 2018. It received negative reviews from critics and was a box office bomb.

<i>The Super</i> (2017 film) 2017 horror film

The Super is a 2017 American horror thriller film directed by Stephan Rick and starring Patrick Flueger and Val Kilmer.

References

  1. "An Ordinary Man". Bari International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 2017-11-23. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  2. Boyle, Lance (28 October 2015). "Ben Kingsley Joins Brad Silberling's "An Ordinary Man"". The Tracking Board. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  3. Vlessing, Etan (10 February 2018). "Saban Films Nabs Ben Kingsley Thriller 'An Ordinary Man'". The Hollywood Reporter . Prometheus Global Media . Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  4. 1 2 "An Ordinary Man (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  5. Don Steinberg (April 7, 2018). "Ben Kingsley Humanizes the Inhumane in 'An Ordinary Man'". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2018-11-10.