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6 Days effectively unravels its fact-based tale in the form of a taut -- albeit unambitious -- thriller that captures its era with a minimum of flair.

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6 Days review – Jamie Bell storms it in Iranian embassy siege thriller

The Billy Elliot star is terrific as the cocky, swaggering leader of a crack SAS team in an atmospheric real-life drama that’s short on suspense

T oa Fraser ’s real-life hostage thriller about the 1980 siege of the Iranian embassy in London (it skipped a cinema release and arrives on Netflix on 3 November) is thoughtful, well-made, with a couple of excellent performances – and just a bit dull. Told with not quite enough suspense, its pin stays firmly in the grenade as six armed men storm the embassy in Kensington, taking 26 hostages and demanding the release of prisoners in southern Iran.

Still, it’s satisfying to see Jamie Bell , who has sometimes seemed to be stuck in a limbo of man-child roles, properly grown up. Here he plays an SAS soldier leading a team of heavily armed, black-clad heavies called in as backup should talks stall with the terrorists, who are threatening to kill one hostage an hour. Mark Strong gives a smart, subtle performance as the brains to Bell’s brawn – the detective in charge of negotiations. He’s rather repressed in the stiff-upper-lip tradition but also empathic. (As he builds a rapport with the gunmen’s leader, you sense him becoming emotionally invested in a non-violent outcome.) Outside the embassy, BBC journalist Kate Adie (a distractingly stiff performance by the Australian actor Abbie Cornish ) is reporting on the crisis, watched by millions on TV.

The action takes place over the six days of the siege, moment to moment, the clock ticking. It’s leanly told from multiple points of view, without lingering too much on characterisation (with the exception of telephone calls made by Strong’s detective to his worried wife – a role so thin it could win prizes for dullest female character of the year). We get a glimpse inside the corridors of power, too. The late Tim Pigott-Smith , in one of his final performances, plays home secretary Willie Whitelaw, who communicates the still relatively new prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s refusal to negotiate with terrorists at Cobra meetings – and her apparent lack of squeamishness at sending in the SAS and risking a bloodbath.

The best scenes involve the SAS. Bell is terrific – a combination of cocky swagger and perfect focus – and there are a couple of stomach-lurching moments when his adrenaline-pumped squad are poised to launch an assault on the embassy, only to be told to stand down with seconds to spare. Then it’s back to tea and a ciggie in front the snooker. Director Fraser was clearly taking notes during Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and, as a period piece, 6 Days is nicely detailed – the interiors, clothes and cars all in shades of fag-ash brown.

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Review: A Hostage Standoff Unfolds in ‘6 Days’

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By Ben Kenigsberg

• Aug. 17, 2017

“6 Days” is drawn from a real event in 1980 when gunmen who identified themselves as members of Iran’s Arabic-speaking minority took 26 hostages at the Iranian Embassy in London. (The unrelated Iran hostage crisis was unfolding in Tehran at the time.)

From a structural standpoint, what is interesting about this dramatization of events is that it only occasionally strays from the vantage points of those on the outside. That puts the viewer in the shoes of the government officials and other onlookers as they weigh various options — loading the hostage-takers onto a bus to Heathrow Airport and raiding the bus, entering the embassy through a skylight — for ending the situation.

The factions are accorded one major actor apiece: Mark Strong is an inspector with a police negotiations team, Abbie Cornish is a BBC News reporter, Jamie Bell is a member of Britain’s Special Air Service and Tim Pigott-Smith (who died in April ) is William Whitelaw, Britain’s home secretary. Over the phone, Mr. Strong’s character builds trust with the gunmen’s leader (Ben Turner). The last thread most compels the director, Toa Fraser, to violate the strictures on perspective.

With a barrage of title-card identifications, “6 Days” can feel closer to a re-enactment than a thriller. To the extent that the movie has a political angle, it’s perhaps gratuitously jingoistic. A closing note that the captors “lie in unmarked graves in East London” seems out of step with what precedes it.

Rated R. Violence. Running time: 1 hour 34 minutes.

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Film Review: ‘6 Days’

Covering the 1980 terrorist invasion of London's Iranian Embassy, Toa Fraser's true-life thriller is technically adept but dramatically muted.

By Guy Lodge

Film Critic

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“A renaissance for international terrorism” is among the archival newscast quotes used to set the scene in the opening credits of “6 Days” — a true-life hostage thriller methodically tracking the 1980 siege of London’s Iranian Embassy by Iranian Arab militants. The unhappy irony, of course, is that few viewers would be able to identity any particular era from that soundbite, and Toa Fraser’s lean, cleanly assembled dramatization is in its own way resistant to historical specifics: Shot and styled in contemporary, ticking-clock action fashion, it compresses the complex Theatcher-era politics of its fractious standoff into a simplified West-versus-Middle-East conflict that registers as broadly topical.

Technically smart but dramatically a bit flat — with a triangulated multi-view structure that gives stars Mark Strong , Jamie Bell and Abbie Cornish minimal room to flex — “6 Days” establishes Fraser’s credentials as a viable handler of mainstream genre fare, but comes as something of a disappointment after the livelier exploits of his rollicking Maori adventure “The Dead Lands.” Following limited theatrical exposure, it is likeliest to find an audience through home-viewing channels: Generations who watched firsthand the landmark BBC reporting on the crisis, here honored by way of Cornish’s casting as gutsy newswoman Kate Adie, will be most interested in the film’s mildly pumped-up interpretation.

Younger or less informed viewers, however, won’t take long to figure out the essentials of the situation, as detailed subtitles in the film’s opening beats introduce key names, responsibilities and locations — lending the film a veneer of docu-style thoroughness without calling on Glenn Standring’s pared-back script to do much in the way of ground-laying or character introduction. Indeed, “6 Days” gets down to business with swift, cool-headed economy: Its opening minutes depict the violent takeover of the Iranian Embassy in London’s upscale Kensington district by six gunmen from Democratic Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Arabistan, with 26 hostages taken in the process. Scored by Lachlan Anderson and David Long to low, surging synths and stabs of percussion, this nervy, unfussy sequence remains the film’s most impressive.

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The terrorists, however, barely come into focus after this agitated introduction, their individual identities skimmed over while their nuanced cause — a campaign for Arab sovereignty in Iran’s Khuzestan Province — is outlined in shorthand. Instead, Standring’s script rotates the perspectives of three unconnected British participants in the fracas: Max Vernon (Strong), the police inspector charged with leading the hostage negotiations; Rusty Firmin (Bell), a lance corporal in the SAS military team waiting in the wings should more peaceful negotiating tactics fail; and Adie, the brave public face of the story for viewers at home, but not a figure for which the film ever finds a clear narrative purpose — though the petty squabbling between rival reporters on the sidelines provides the film’s few moments of levity.

Strong’s anxious, one-on-one telephone exchanges with chief terrorist Salim (a fine Ben Turner) providing the dramatic meat of the film, though they’re hardly kinetic. Perhaps with this in mind, Fraser and Standring attempt to spike the film’s action quotient by sporadically cutting to Firmin and his fellow soldiers as they perform a series of warehouse practice-run ambushes, though it’s a questionable tactic. Without the human stakes of the live situation, there’s a whiff of padding to these scenes; moreover, they risk undercutting the urgency of the military’s climactic real-life invasion at (in case you hadn’t guessed) the six-day mark.

Nevertheless, this heart-in-mouth finale is executed with tight, focused clarity of movement by Fraser and editors Dan Kircher and John Gilbert: Many a bigger-budget blockbuster would reduce such a climax to a murky muddle of grunts, gunfire and fast cuts. Aaron Morton’s handsome lensing, meanwhile, resists the standard grainy-beige aesthetic of such period pieces, instead bathing much of the action in sleek, counterintuitive shades of aquamarine — correctly gauging the slightly clinical sangfroid of the entire enterprise.

Reviewed online, London, Aug. 17, 2017. Running time: 94 MIN.

• Production: (U.K.-New Zealand) A Vertical Entertainment (in U.S.) release of a General Film Comrporation/Fightertown, Ingenious Senior Film Fund presentation in association with XYZ Films, New Zealand Film Commission, Lipsync, Dog With a Bone Prods. Producer: Matthew Metcalfe. Executive producers: Nate Bolotin, Ian Dawson, Peter Hampden, Norman Humphrey, Gavin Poolman, Andrea Scarso, Glenn Standring, Aram Tertzakian. Co-producer: Norman Merry.
• Crew: Director: Toa Fraser. Screenplay: Glenn Standring. Camera (color, widescreen): Aaron Morton. Editors: Dan Kircher, John Gilbert. Music: Lachlan Anderson, David Long.
• With: Mark Strong, Abbie Cornish, Jamie Bell, Tim Pigott-Smith, Emun Elliott, Martin Shaw, Ronan Vibert, Martin Hancock, Tim Downie, Nicholas Boulton, Aymen Hamdouchi, Toby Leach, Robert Portal.

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‘6 Days’ Review: Britain’s Own True-Life Hostage Crisis Is No ‘Argo’

London’s 1980 hostage situation at the Iranian embassy was edgy and taut; the movie version gives it the blandly commercial action treatment

Limply following in the footsteps of “Munich,” “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Argo” is the terrorist hostage thriller “6 Days,” a dramatization of the Iranian embassy crisis that gripped the UK in the spring of 1980. The core ingredients are all there for an absorbing rehashing of events but, as unveiled — even with a solid cast that includes Jamie Bell in paramilitary gear, Mark Strong turning up the gravity in his voice, and Abbie Cornish as a BBC reporter — it comes off all too often like a routine siege picture with a testosterone insecurity.

You don’t need to be a student of history to appreciate the many tense elements in play when six armed Iranian Arabs stormed their country’s embassy in London and took over two dozen people hostage to protest Persian treatment of their minority in Iran. By that point, the US-Tehran hostage situation had been going on for months, and Margaret Thatcher — newly in power as Prime Minister — was eager to show British strength in the face of rising terrorism (both the Middle East and IRA kind).

While some preferred the idea of careful negotiation with the hostage takers, plans were also in place to launch an assault using Britain’s special forces. On top of that, news teams were camped outside to make sure anything that happened, good or bad, was seen by millions.

So why does New Zealand-by-way-of-England director Toa Fraser’s version of events, as scripted by Glenn Standring — a reteaming of the pair behind the Maori adventure saga “The Dead Lands” — feel so inconsequential and stiff? The main answer is that it’s confused about whether it wants to be a ticking-bomb tale of heroics or a complex insider account.

Fraser winds up with neither, unable to make phone conversations between Strong’s serious-minded police negotiator and the terrorists feel any different from an exchange you’d hear on a TV cop show, and so worried you’ll be bored (as marker “DAY 1” becomes “DAY 2” and so on) that he treats the SAS (Special Air Services) rehearsals for storming the embassy like action scenes in and of themselves. Sorry, but anyone fooled into a quickening heart rate by pretend-raids on a makeshift embassy set in a hangar is truly starved for excitement.

The problems start early. “6 Days” can’t be bothered with threading names and locations into expository scenes — too hard! — so it sets everything up the information-overload way, with the real-life players’ names and job descriptions spelled out for us with captions. (No such tags for the baddies, however; maybe it would have looked silly to see “Salim: Terrorist.”)

Then, when the places get identified with onscreen titles, (a briefing room for government bigwigs, the Royal College of General Practitioners) we also for some reason get their geographic relation to the Iranian embassy. (In case you need to know exactly how many doors down the authorities’ makeshift headquarters was from the embassy, it’s seven.)

Fraser admirably tries to kick-start the severity of the crisis right away, even if the tendency to be stylish trumps a lived-in period flavor. But even with a situation whose nerviness is baked in, it’s surprising how little suspense is generated, even with real-life details like a cop hostage harboring a weapon the gunmen don’t know about, or the constant worry that the terrorists — regrettably ill-defined as characters, mostly seen shouting or demanding — will start killing their captives. Maybe that’s because the title gives away when the special forces intervene. (Hint: it’s after “DAY 5.”)

The raid, meanwhile, is perfunctorily filmed, and an attempt to create an anticipated showdown between Bell’s gung-ho SAS operative Rusty Firmin and head terrorist Faisal (Aymen Hamdouchi, “War Machine”), set up only with an earlier scene in which Rusty stares intently at Faisal’s mug shot, feels woefully forced.

The performances, outside of Strong’s hyper-aware sensitivity as police inspector Max Vernon, barely register — and in the case of Cornish, whose newswoman cadence playing real-life correspondent Kate Adie is alarmingly stilted, come dangerously close to terrible. (I’d be surprised if Adie, who became a star because of her live reporting, isn’t offended by the cynical “I’ve got a scoop” smirk Cornish brazenly wears for much of the film.)

Bell’s SAS character Rusty, meanwhile, feels generic, and is stuck in a loop of waiting with his squad members for the go signal and doing practice drills. It may be reality, but it sure isn’t gripping as docudrama.

When you think of how skillfully the likes of Steven Spielberg, Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow squeezed all they could from their politically charged, naturally pulsing tales of counter-terrorist action, you can’t help but view “6 Days” as a missed opportunity.

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Common sense media reviewers.

Reenactment of 1980 embassy takeover has blood, violence.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

People at opposite sides of an argument can find c

Max Vernon is a sympathetic police officer who's t

Six armed Arab men storm the Iranian embassy in Lo

"F--k," "s--t," "t-ts."

Parents need to know that 6 Days is a dramatized reenactment of the 1980 armed takeover of the Iranian Embassy in London by Arab terrorists demanding the release of prisoners held by the Iranian government. Quick and effective responses by a calm London police negotiator and a strategic British Air Force unit…

Positive Messages

People at opposite sides of an argument can find common ground and see each the other's humanity, but it doesn't settle the argument.

Positive Role Models

Max Vernon is a sympathetic police officer who's trying to save the lives of hostages but also of the terrorists. Lance Corporal Firmin is a smart, brave soldier. The terrorists don't seem to have planned very wisely and seem puzzled that their plan isn't working perfectly. They want to be treated with respect but they're also oblivious to the fact that they're taking their war against Iran to the streets of another country.

Violence & Scariness

Six armed Arab men storm the Iranian embassy in London, threatening to kill hostages unless prisoners held in Iran are released. A hostage is shot to death. British military tactical forces storm the building and many die in a bloody shootout. The assault on the terrorists includes lots of weapons, grenades, and other devices going off. There's lots of scary yelling by panicky terrorists.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that 6 Days is a dramatized reenactment of the 1980 armed takeover of the Iranian Embassy in London by Arab terrorists demanding the release of prisoners held by the Iranian government. Quick and effective responses by a calm London police negotiator and a strategic British Air Force unit minimized hostage casualties to two out of 26. Several terrorists died in the siege. The assault on the terrorists is bloody, with lots of weapons, grenades, and other devices going off. A hostage is shot in the head and his body is seen, from afar, being removed from the embassy. Language is often coarse, including "f--k" and "s--t." There's lots of scary yelling by panicky terrorists. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

6 DAYS reenacts the 1980 takeover of the Iranian Embassy in London by armed Arab militants demanding that Iran release Arab Iranians being held in government prisons. After the six men storm the embassy and their demands are conveyed, London police send a negotiator to deescalate the situation at the same time that a special operations Air Force team starts training for an assault on the building. At the time, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had made it clear that the U.K. wouldn't allow the terrorists to leave England -- their only way out was as prisoners or "in a box" -- that is, dead. During the crisis, reporters gather outside to cover the siege, and the military team keeps returning to the drawing board as they devise different, more effective ways of going in to rescue the hostages.

Is It Any Good?

This movie is a workmanlike, if fairly flat, depiction of the kind of story that often makes the news these days. Mark Strong plays the real-life Max Vernon, the chief police negotiator who does his best to buy time, keep the terrorists calm, and keep the hostages safe while rescue plans are being devised. The movie does a nice job of showing the emotional connection that can develop between a negotiator and a sympathetic terrorist. In this case, terrorist leader Salim ( Ben Turner ) seems to appreciate Max's efforts to help get everyone out alive, but in the end, he doesn't believe such an outcome is possible. The emotional toll on Max is great, and he appears to believe that by obeying orders he's been given to distract Salim, he has in some sense betrayed him. While this feeling is understandable, the movie doesn't really provide the in-depth foundation during the action to support the decision to spend quite a bit of screen time on that dissatisfaction at the end.

The filmmakers also don't bother explaining much about the difference between an Arab and a Persian, even though that difference is at the heart of Salim's and his fellow terrorists' grievances. Iran is a Persian nation, where Persian is the native tongue. Arabs like Salim, who speak Arabic, are a minority in that country and are discriminated against by the Persian government, based on 14 centuries of Arab-Persian animosity. More could also have been done to illuminate the terrorist strategy behind taking over the Iranian embassy in London, as opposed to just protesting or attacking Iranians in Iran. The fact that none of this is explained adds to the sense that the 1980 event is being treated more as an excuse to make a suspenseful hostage movie than to enlighten anyone on the issues that prompted the conflict. No doubt this depicts an iconic moment in British history that made the careers of not only police officer Vernon, but also BBC correspondent Kate Adie ( Abbie Cornish ) and Lance Corporal Rusty Firmin ( Jamie Bell ), who bravely led the soldiers into the building. Brits who watched the events unfold on TV in real time will probably appreciate 6 Days more than any other audience.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the philosophy behind terrorism. Do you think it's ever OK to threaten people's lives, and even kill, in order to get what you want? Would you change your mind if you thought the terrorists had legitimately been treated unfairly, or is violence always inexcusable?

What does 6 Days say about violence? How did all the threats of killing affect you?

Most of the hostages were Iranians who worked at the embassy, but by chance a British journalist and a British police officer were caught when the terrorists took over. Does this movie make you think about the randomness of terrorism incidents that have taken place in recent years? How can you live without fear?

Movie Details

• In theaters : August 18, 2017
• On DVD or streaming : October 3, 2017
• Cast : Mark Strong , Jamie Bell , Abbie Cornish , Ben Turner
• Director : Toa Fraser
• Studio : Lionsgate
• Genre : Drama
• Run time : 94 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : for violence and language
• Last updated : February 6, 2024

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6 Days (New Zealand/United Kingdom, 2017)

The film examines the crisis from five perspectives. There are scenes inside the embassy featuring (imagined) discussions between the chief terrorist, Salim (Ben Turner), and his lieutenants as well as interaction between the hostage-takers and their charges. We see the preparations of the SAS (Special Air Services), represented by Rusty Firmin (Jamie Bell), as they plan for the operation. Police negotiator Max Vernon (Mark Strong) tries everything in his power for a peaceful resolution – a pipe dream that’s never realized. Representatives of Thatcher’s government discuss options when there really aren’t any, especially when no Middle East countries show a willingness to become involved. Finally, an attempt is made to depict the role of the media via reporter Kate Adie (Abbie Cornish).

Overall, 6 Days works better as an educational experience than a source of entertainment. As with any fact-based feature film, events have to be taken with a grain of salt since the primary goal isn’t necessarily an accurate recreation of history, but Fraser and his screenwriter, Glenn Standring, appear committed to presenting an unvarnished telling. 6 Days works not only as a portal into what happened 37 years ago but as an understanding of the difficulties of handling hostage situations and why it’s easy for things to go very wrong. It’s a worthwhile film, especially for those with an interest in the place and/or period.

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Review: Hostage drama ‘6 Days’ proves duller than real-life

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As Ben Affleck’s “Argo” effectively demonstrated, movies based on real-life events such as the 444-day Iran hostage crisis can be every bit as tensely unpredictable and thoroughly entertaining as their entirely fictional counterparts.

The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for the considerably less compelling “6 Days,” a stiffly executed re-creation of the events surrounding the 1980 hostage-taking attack on London’s Iranian Embassy that packs all the high-stakes intrigue of a filed police report.

On March 30 of that year, as the siege of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was closing in on its sixth month, a half-dozen heavily armed Iranian Arab gunmen stormed the Iranian Embassy in South Kensington and threatened to begin systematically killing all 26 hostages if their demands weren’t met.

Screenwriter Glenn Standring portrays the ensuing standoff from the point of view of three main characters — a poised hostage negotiator (Mark Strong) well-versed in stall tactics, an intrepid on-the-street TV reporter (Abbie Cornish) and a gung-ho member of the Special Air Service (SAS) (Jamie Bell) ready to eventually take siege of the building.

It’s an entirely workable schematic, but New Zealand director Toa Fraser never manages to link those elements with any sense of immediacy or take advantage of that built-in ticking clock to create much-needed momentum.

The Thatcher government might have met its objective, but “6 Days” can’t help but feel like a missed opportunity.

-------------

Rating: R, for violence and language

Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes

Playing: Laemmle Royal, West L.A.

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6 Days – Review

This was originally reviewed on 18/10/17 as part of London Film Festival .

It’s surprising that it took so long for 6 Days ’ subject matter to receive the onscreen treatment, as it depicts the famous 1980 Iranian Embassy siege and the SAS’s response, seen as “an almost unqualified success”.

6 Days is a methodical and competent retelling of events, following them as each day unfolds, and according to the Metropolitan Police, the BBC and, mainly, the SAS. The film accurately reflects the training, planning and preparation of the mission, named Operation Nimrod, as well as how responsive the SAS had to be to the government and police intel. This does, however, result in an uneven pace and a propensity to get bogged down in smaller, repetitive details.

A convincing and able cast give their all, but the muted character development means there’s not much to work with, despite the depiction of real people and events. Bell does a good job as SAS man Rusty Firmin (although his accent is a little muffled), alongside a focused Emun Elliott. Mark Strong just exudes decency as negotiator Chief Inspector Max Vernon, as well as singlehandedly providing the film with most of its tension. Cornish has a tougher time, sounding rather strangulated as the BBC’s Kate Adie.

Other than a few lines spread among some of the SAS soldiers, hostage PC Trevor Lock and reluctant terrorist Salim, everyone else blurs into unidentified terrorist or hostage. Casting director Dan Hubbard has expertly honed in on the military look for his SAS soldiers and Army officer actors, though.

6 Days presents a fascinating topic, still relevant today. The SAS, previously little-known due to their largely covert operations, set the UK standard in terrorist response, which decades later remains unchanged. It’s a shame that the story is rather bogged down by a sagging script and only basic character sketches.

RATING: 3/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Jamie Bell, Mark Strong, Abbie Cornish, Ben Turner, Martin Shaw, Emun Elliott, Tim Pigott-Smith, Kip Chapman

DIRECTOR: Toa Fraser

WRITER: Glenn Standring

SYNOPSIS: In April 1980, armed gunmen stormed the Iranian Embassy in Princes Gate, London, and took all inside hostage. Over the next six days a tense standoff took place, while a group of highly-trained SAS soldiers prepared for a raid, the likes of which the world had never before seen.

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Based on the factual events in 1980 when the SAS stormed the Iranian embassy with the worlds media watching. This tense drama gets a little bogged down in the detail and a little repetitive. However, as a factual re-enactment of the events, it is an interesting watch.

6 days is a very factual portrayal of the Iranian Embassy Siege that took place in 1980. The Embassy located in South Kensington London was taken by six armed gunmen who kept 26 people hostage demanding the release of Arab prisoners being held in Khuzestan. However Margaret Thatchers government refused to negotiate, standing firm Thatcher instead calls in the Special Air Service (SAS) displaying a distinct lack of fear to use maximum force if necessary. The 6 days from the 30th April to the 5th May, captured the worlds attention and the world watched closely until eventually, the SAS stormed the building, rescuing all but one of the remaining hostages and killed five of the six terrorists. The footage was broadcast live globally, putting the SAS firmly in the public eye for the first time.

The siege has been part of the political debate for decades now and countless documentaries followed. The film Who Dares Wins hit cinemas in 1982, loosely based on the Iranian Embassy Seige this film was ridiculously exaggerated and wildly over the top. On the flip side to this the movie 6 days focuses so much on the details of the events that it seems to lose something along the way, becoming a theatrical re-enactment of each of the 6 days. Whilst this creates a lot of realism to the film, it does drag somewhat and become a little repetitive, especially the constant practicing for different outcomes by the SAS team. However the end assault on the embassy by the SAS is suitably gripping and packed full of action, it just seems to take a lifetime to get there.

Toa Fraser directs, creating an authentic feel to the whole thing and maintains a consistent atmosphere throughout. The cast is solid enough to carry the story along, especially the brilliant Mark Strong who is an extremely underrated actor but always gives a great performance. Strong gives a powerful yet respectful delivery of his role as Max Vernon, the Cheif Inspector in charge of direct negotiations with the terrorists. The audience follows Max Vernon through the whole process in an intimate way that provides an open picture of the political difficulties he faced in the negotiations. But, more importantly, we get to sympathize with his situation and the relationship he is building with the hostage takers. Martin Shaw gives a strong performance and Abby Cornish is cast as Kate Addie. The one cast member I had difficulty with was Jamie Bell of Billy Elliot fame, whilst he acted the part tremendously well I just could not be convinced with the casting of Bell as Rusty Firmin.

Overall, 6 days is a very interesting political thriller that provides an insightful view of the actions that took place on one of the most significant events in Modern British History. The film is not bad, but it is not great either seeming to be so sensitive with the details that it lacks excitement and finishes up feeling a little flat. I remember watching the live footage of the SAS storming the building and that was incredibly exciting, probably more exciting than this film. It is worth watching – but it will not knock your socks off.

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Lee Jutton has directed short films starring a killer toaster,…

6 Days is a big, boldly waving Union Jack of a film, an awestruck ode to the firepower of the British Special Air Service (SAS), and the stubbornness of a government unwilling to give in to the demands of terrorists. Written by Glenn Standring and directed by Toa Fraser  – who previously collaborated on the 2014 Maori revenge drama The Dead Lands  – it chronicles the responses of the British government, army, police and media to the Iranian Embassy siege of 1980.

And while 6 Days tells a true story, as opposed to a hackneyed fictional tale designed solely to whip audience members up into a violently ethnocentric fervor against anyone with brown skin and a beard (looking at you, London Has Fallen ), one can’t help but wonder whether it was a story that needed to be told again right now, at this moment in history.

Running Out Of Time 

The film begins on April 30, 1980, as six armed men storm the Iranian embassy in London and take everyone within it hostage. The men are Iranian Arabs who wish for the Iranian province of Khuzestan, also known as Arabistan, to be liberated from Iranian rule and established as an autonomous Arab state. Before they release their hostages at the embassy, they want all Arab prisoners released from Khuzestan prisons – and once that’s done, they want safe passage for themselves out of the United Kingdom.

Needless to say, the British government isn’t too keen on complying with their demands. Instead, a siege begins that lasts – you guessed it – six days, during which increasingly desperate hostage negotiators attempt to cajole the men into, if not releasing the hostages, at least prolonging their lives. However, as it becomes clear that little progress is being made in granting their demands, the terrorists’ trigger fingers become increasingly itchy.

In the meantime, an SAS squadron starts planning and practicing for what they believe will be the inevitable – an armed raid on the embassy to rescue the hostages. Ambushing the terrorists with guns blazing could be the only way to save the hostages, but it could just as easily lead to their deaths, and the powers that be are running out of time to make a decision to make or break the crisis.

Tension and Testosterone

Testosterone is the order of these 6 Days . Among the ensemble cast, Abbie Cornish has the only major female role in the film. She plays trailblazing BBC reporter Kate Adie, who reported live from the scene of the raid while crouched behind a car and set a new standard for literally on the ground coverage, yet  Cornish smothers her natural Australian voice with an almost cartoonishly posh English accent that feels as though it would be better spread across crumpets with clotted cream than coming out of her mouth.

Despite the often inadvertently hilarious tone of her voice, Cornish’s portrayal of Adie as a bold woman who was willing to put herself in danger to get her story feels just as heroic as anything done by the SAS in the film. Said SAS is led by a scrappy and charismatic Jamie Bell as squadron leader Rusty Firmin (the real-life Rusty served as a consultant on the film), while Mark Strong gives a nuanced performance as police negotiator Max Vernon, charged with the delicate, dangerous task of communicating with the increasingly edgy men holding the embassy.

This talented trio of actors manage to do wonders with a script that doesn’t stand out in the slightest. However, one doesn’t watch a film like 6 Days for the dialogue. One watches a film like 6 Days for the intensity and the action, and those are two things the film does quite well. Not being familiar with the story beforehand, I had no idea how the film was going to end, which meant my anxiety levels were shooting through the roof during the entire thing.

Like other based-on-a-true-story thrillers, such as Captain Phillips , 6 Days is not the kind of movie that one goes to see on a Friday evening in the hope of unwinding after a long work week; one should be prepared to spend the next 94 minutes soaking up all of the stress and tension exuded by Bell , Strong , Cornish and company.

But Do We Need 6 Days Right Now?

Watching 6 Days is an uncomfortable experience in more ways than one – but, the primary reason why I was unable to fully enjoy the film had nothing to do with its quality and entirely to do with the current political climate. We live in a world where the President of the United States will rush to ban Muslims from entering the country because of “radical Islamic terrorism” but will hesitate to condemn white nationalists committing acts of domestic terrorism on American soil. Again and again, the news media chooses to depict violent acts around the world through a specific lens, one that demonizes people of color and glorifies the stubbornness of white men who stand their ground while wielding guns.

Yes, the hostage takers at the Iranian Embassy deserved to be stopped from carrying out their mission. Yes, it is heroic that they were stopped before all of the hostages lost their lives. Yes, it was a “raid the world had never seen the likes of.”

But did we really need to see it again? In the hostile, intolerant Britain of Brexit, do we need movies like 6 Days to glamorize the militarization of our world and to glorify the government of Thatcher? Do we need yet another movie starring angry Middle Eastern terrorists, as though that is all people from that part of the world are capable of being? I don’t think we do. And that’s why I truly felt uncomfortable watching 6 Days . I felt as though by watching the film I was being complicit in furthering stereotypes and prejudices that don’t deserve any more screen-time in the 21st century.

What do you think? Is it still worth retelling these episodes of history in our current political climate? Share your thoughts in the comments.

6 Days was released in the UK on August 4, 2017 and in the U.S. on August 18, 2017. For more international release dates, please see here .

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Lee Jutton has directed short films starring a killer toaster, a killer Christmas tree, and a not-killer leopard. Her writing has appeared in publications such as Film School Rejects, Bitch: A Feminist Response to Pop Culture, Bitch Flicks, TV Fanatic, and Just Press Play. When not watching, making, or writing about films, she can usually be found on Twitter obsessing over soccer, BTS, and her cat.

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Whenever pirates turn up in a romance set more recently than 1843, you figure the filmmakers ran out of ideas. "Six Days, Seven Nights'' illustrates that principle. It's the kind of movie that provides diversion for the idle channel-surfer but isn't worth a trip to the theater. A lot of it seems cobbled together out of spare parts.

Harrison Ford and Anne Heche co-star, in an Opposites Attract formula that strands them on a South Pacific island. He once owned his own business, but simplified his life by moving to paradise as a charter pilot. She's a high-powered New York magazine editor (the third this month; Tina Brown should collect royalties). Heche and her would-be fiance ( David Schwimmer ) arrive on the tropical isle, he proposes marriage, she accepts--and then hires Ford to fly her over to Tahiti for an emergency photo shoot.

When their plane crashes on an uninhabited island in a storm, Ford and Heche are thrown together in a fight for survival. (I'd like to know what Ford's thoughts were in the scene where he dresses up in palm fronds to hunt birds.) Back on the resort island, Ford's friendly masseuse, an island seductress played by Jacqueline Obradors , and Schwimmer mourn their missing lovers and seek consolation, or something, in each other's arms.

The screenplay by Michael Browning has little interest in the characters--certainly not enough to provide them with a movie's worth of conversation. It's devised along standard formula lines, and so desperate for a crisis that pirates conveniently materialize on two occasions simply to give the movie something to be about. If you want to see a movie that knows what to do with a man, a woman and an island, see John Huston's "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison,'' in which Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr create atmosphere where Ford and Heche create only weather.

Not that they aren't pleasant enough to watch. Ford has a nice early drunk scene where he avoids the usual cliches and gives us a man who gets thoughtful and analytical in a sloshed sort of way. Heche is plucky and has unforced charm, and does a great job of looking searchingly into Ford's eyes while he talks to her. Meanwhile, Schwimmer and Obradors provide counterpoint, mirroring in low comedy what the stars are doing at a more elevated level.

Harrison Ford has an easy appeal in movies like this and never pushes too hard. Anne Heche plays a nice duet with him. But their adventures on the island are like the greatest hits from other movies ("Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,'' "The Flight of the Phoenix'') and when they have a couple of well-written dialogue scenes toward the end, you wonder why two intelligent people like these need pirates in their movie.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Garden tours, plants sales and more ways to spend time among flowers

Visit Maine's botanical gardens or get a sneak peek of what your neighbors are growing in their back yards.

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One of the loveliest ways to ease yourself fully out of the post-winter blahs and into springtime is to quit being a wallflower and instead surround yourself with living, blooming plants.

From botanical gardens to plant sales and garden tours, it’s time to make like the Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz” and while away the hours, conferring with flowers.

The waterfall at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay. Photo by Tory Paxson, Courtesy of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

TOTALLY BOTANICAL

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay is open for the season, daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Maine Days are May 31 to June 2, when anyone with a Maine driver’s license or state ID gets in for free. Ditto for dads/father figures on Father’s Day (June 16). Advance registration is required. With more than 300 acres of gardens and natural spaces, including a waterfall, there will be plenty to see, smell and bask in the scenery.

Here are more things to do in Boothbay

A tour group walks on the boardwalk at Viles Arboretum in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Viles Arboretum is a botanical garden in Augusta with 6 miles of trails and more than 20 botanical collections. It’s open daily from sunrise to sunset, and admission is free. There are 224 acres with all sorts of flora and fauna to discover. Leashed dogs are welcome, and the visitor center is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

Viles Arboretum offers medicinal plant walks, and although the May 18 session is full, you can still register for the June 15 and Sept. 14 events, lead by herbalist, homeopath and flower essence practitioner Debra Bluth. Tickets are $25. Advertisement

The Mount Desert Land & Garden Preserve has four areas to explore on its property in Northeast Harbor: the Asticou Azelea Garden (dawn to dusk daily), the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden (noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday from July 9 to Sept. 8, reservations required), Thuya Garden (dawn to dusk daily, June 15 to Oct. 14) and Little Long Pond Natural Lands (hiking trails and carriage roads open dawn to dusk daily). On June 26, at the Wildflowers of Little Long Pond event, participants can wander around the garden’s fields and forest, spotting wildflowers along the way while practicing how to identify them.

Joyce Saltman, right, and Beth Anisbeck embrace a tree for 60 seconds during a tree hugging event sponsored by Portland Parks and Recreation, at Deering Oaks Park last year. Carl D. Walsh/Staff Photographer

TOURS AND MORE

2nd Annual Tree Hugging 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Deering Oaks Park, Portland. portlandmaine.gov The tree hugging is a family-friendly community gathering to celebrate Portland’s many trees. Park ranger Liz Collado will lead a sensory awakening and forest bathing session. Along with tree hugging, there will be a storytime, and you can touch a forestry truck and meet naturalist Noah Querido and Portland city arborist Mark Reiland. Just down the road, you’ll find Fessenden Park, on the corner of Brighton and Deering Avenues. The tulips have arrived, and it’s worth a visit to see them.

McLaughlin Garden Lilac Festival 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 24. McLaughlin Garden and Homestead, 97 Main St., South Paris, $5. mclaughlingardens.org You’ll find more than 125 varieties of lilacs at the McLaughlin Garden Lilac Festival. Explore on your own or take a guided tour led by a horticulturist. There will also be family-friendly activities, and you can shop for native and unusual plants.

4th annual Woodfords Community Garden Tour 1-4 p.m. June 8. Woodfords Corner Community in Back Cove, Deering Highlands, Oakdale and Deering Center, $20 suggested donation. woodfordscorner.org Presented by Friends of Woodfords Corner, this self-guided tour features at least 10 gardens. As you make your way down the list, you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised by all of the hidden havens bursting with flowers, plants and impressive yardscaping elements.

Peony Society of Maine 23rd annual Garden Tour 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 8 and 15. Both tours start at 1348 Ohio St., Bangor, $5 donation. peonysocietyofmaine.net You’ll visit multiple gardens in Bangor, Winterport, Ripley and St. Albans, and your senses will be filled with countless peonies. A peony plant will be raffled off at the end of each tour. Advertisement

Hidden Gardens of Historic Bath 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 22. Sagadahoc Preservation Inc., 880 Washington St., Bath, $40. sagadahocpreservation.org The Hidden Gardens of Historic Bath house and garden tour features several homes in North Bath. Every stop on the tour will be a treat for your senses and may motivate you to make some of your own magic when you get back home.

Garden Conservancy Open Garden Days 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 29. Beckett Castle Rose Garden, Singles Road, Cape Elizabeth, $10. gardenconservancy.org You’ll see plenty of roses as well as ocean views at Beckett Castle, which sits right on the water, with views of five lighthouses. The castle was built in 1871, and its rose garden features more than 70 varieties of heirloom roses. A 50-foot stone tower doubles as the rose arbor entrance to the castle.

PICK A PLANT SALE

Tate House Museum’s Annual Plant and Herb Sale 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 18. Tate House Museum, 1267 Westbrook St., Portland, 207-774-6177.  tatehouse.org The wide selection includes perennials divided from the museum’s 18th century reproduction garden. Visitors can also make their own “seed bombs” and get a sneak peak at a new installation by artist Ashley Page from 10 a.m. to noon.

Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland Spring Plant S ale 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. May 18, Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland, 217 Landing Road, Westbrook, 207-854-9771.  arlgp.org   Perennials, house plants and more will be on sale, and plants that don’t have specific pricing are “name your own fee.” Anyone interested in donating plants or pots to the sale should send a message to [email protected] .

Taking Root Plant Sale 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 1, Tom Settlemire Community Garden, Maurice Drive, Brunswick, 207-729-7694.  btlt.org This annual sale is organized by the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust. Proceeds benefit the Common Good Garden, which provides food and gardening education for the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program. Master gardeners will be on hand to help shoppers choose their best options.

Scarborough Land Trust Native Plant Sale and Spring Festival 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 1, Broadturn Farm, 388 Broadturn Road, Scarborough, 207-289-1199.  scarboroughlandtrust.org Visitors will find native plants, food vendors, local artisans, guided nature walks and activities for kids. To preorder plants, visit the Scarborough Land Trust website.

Maine Audubon Society Native Plants Sale and Festival 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., June 8, Gilsland Farm Audubon Center, 20 Gilsland Farm Road, Falmouth, 207-781-2330.  maineaudubon.org More than 75 species of native wildflowers, shrubs and tree seedlings will be available, along with workshops, info tables and experts.

Staff writer Megan Gray contributed to this report.

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