‘Sound of Freedom’ is Actually A More Than Decent Film [Review]

“Sound of Freedom” is being sold as a “conservative” film, but it’s really nothing of the sort. It checks its politics at the door to tell the true story of Tim Ballard, the former Department of Homeland Security special agent whose lifelong crusade was to fight child sex trafficking.

The movie stars Jim Caviezel, and he’s been gone from the Hollywood limelight for so long that you almost forget how good of an actor he is. Caviezel is excellent as Ballard in “Sound of Freedom.”

And, really, you could dig up whatever you’d like about Caviezel’s past, and there have been hit pieces published left and right these past few weeks, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that “Sound of Freedom” is a compelling movie and that he’s great in it. More importantly, it tackles a subject matter that’s as horrific as it sounds.

There were some moments in “Sound of Freedom” that left me very uncomfortable, but, then again, why has Hollywood refrained from tackling this subject matter? It’s a real-world problem that deserves your attention and, as stats have proven, sex trafficking is the fastest growing international criminal network the world has ever seen.

The fact that this film decides to spotlight such a severe world problem, and does it in fairly gripping fashion, gets a major pass from me. I wouldn’t call the filmmaking excellent, but it’s well-made, especially in the film’s more mournful first half — director Alejandro Monteverde’s sense of framing is pretty damn good. His pacing strong. The acting, especially from the underrated Bill Camp, exemplary. Although, Mira Sorvino is completely wasted in the role of Ballard’s supportive wife.

Originally produced by Fox, and later canned by Disney, Monteverde, mostly known for the anti-abortion drama “Unplanned,” shot “Sound of Freedom” in 2018. Angel Studios pounced on the film after Disney tried to nix it. They made the right call to pick this one up.

Monteverde’s film opens with a single father in Honduras dropping his two kids off at an apartment, for an audition, where there are dozens of other child “contestants.” He returns later in the day to pick them up only to find the place abandoned and the lights turned off.

We then cut to Caviezel’s Ballard, a seasoned veteran whose expertise is to entrap pedophiles — he’s nabbed 280 of them in his 12-year career. He gets the bad guys, but not always the children, and that starts to bother him. However, when he discovers a lead having to do with a major Colombian trafficking ring, Ballard decides, against the wishes of his Homeland Security boss, to go after the traffickers himself.

Helping Ballard out in Mexico is is Vampiro, a boozy cigar-smoking ex-pat who has made it his life’s work to save trafficked children. The fact that Vampiro is played by excellent character actor Bill Camp brings dimensions to a role that would have otherwise been buried in cliches. Vampiro belongs in one of those political war movies of the Reagan-era, think “Salvador” or “The Year of Living Damgerously.” He’s a sleazeball with a heart.

The film’s pacing is all over the place, it never really settles for a groove, but, rather, is driven by its passion for the subject matter at hand. Based on its acting alone, the film is dramatically efficient. It’s a film that reminds you of the evils lurking beneath our own cozy facades.

It’s also never exploitative. There’s rage and despair in this undercover drama, and it leaks into Caviezel’s brooding performance. Monteverde makes the decision to never overdo the drama, it’s always quietly rendered, never showy, and, especially in its first hour, almost feels like it’s about to enter noir territory. He only starts to manipulate our emotions in the overwrought final few scenes.

Surprisingly, the film clocks in at 135 minutes and it does have a lot to unpack during that runtime, but it could have also benefited from having had 10-15 minutes worth of scenes snipped out to make for a tighter, more concise film.

Regardless, after having seen “Sound of Freedom,” I get it. I really do. It’s the kind of movie that is very hard for mainstream moviegoers not to like — the action is gripping, the story is of interest and the characters fully fleshed. I’m not at all surprised about its A+ CinemaScore and 8.3 rating on IMDB. Audiences will eat this one up, and they have. [B]