Beirut

Another week, another serviceable story of Middle East intrigue co-starring an impassive Rosamund Pike. Unlike last month’s fact-based 7 Days in Entebbe, Brad Anderson’s Beirut offers a more Bourne-esque take on Bourne-esque themes from a script by Bourne franchise screenwriter Tony Gilroy. Jon Hamm stars as Mason Skiles (Beirut largely takes place during the Lebanese Civil War, with a story that traces over many actual events, but the name “Mason Skiles” alone is enough to establish the script as pure fiction), a professional arbitrator living the sweet life in 1970s Beirut. Mason’s world comes crumbling down when Palestinian terrorists crash his cocktail party, and his wife gets killed in the confusion. A decade later, Mason is a broken man soaking his sorrow in alcohol when he gets word that his friend has been abducted by Palestinians, and that the lead kidnapper specifically requested Mason return to Lebanon to serve as negotiator.