Peter Krause is good in this film. You want to like him because he is handsome. But you realize he is not very bright and is a prejudiced American, so you can't like him. The Egyptian actor who plays the maybe terrorist is compelling, he must be great in other films. Richard Schiff as the FBI agent is quite good. The actress who plays the wife is very pretty and perky and tries to keep things light - why would she be with this lunatic, but maybe that is a good point - people love all kinds of people. I saw the screening at the Tribeca Film Festival. Peter Krause mentioned this film as being a bit like Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER. VERY fitting, because that film showed an everyman character, albeit a very dangerous one, who in that case was paranoid because he returned to NYC having served and killed in Vietnam. The 1970s were a time of paranoia. Today I would not say we are as paranoid. Yet we are at war, and maybe we should be paranoid. If you think of this film as a modern TAXI DRIVER, it is interesting. Even if you don't, it's interesting. Krause is not afraid to play a character who is both appealing and unappealing. His character is handsome but very boring, like a lot of Americans. The actor himself seems like a nice and earnest person, which helps his roles. The excellent Egyptian actor should be in more films.
Review of Civic Duty
