A Common Man

I cannot believe that 2 great actors like Ben Kingsley (Ghandi) and Ben Cross agreed to do such an awful movie and then allow it to be publicly released. I can only assume that they are struggling financially and boredom has set in their lives. One on the worst acting and amateurish story line I have ever seen. Please please avoid at all costs. The producers and directors are so unprofessional that they should never be allowed to make films in the future as they are insulting the intelligent minds of this world. Also must've been on a very very low budget. The rest of the cast, well do I need to say what I really think of them?

It's a mix between a Bruce Lee knock off and Chips. Awful, but will make you laugh for about 30 seconds if you can give it that long. I give it a 2 because there is some amusement in the dubbing. Seeing Ben Kingsley at the beginning suggests that there will be some sort of tension, setting up the film for something good. Sadly, it does not happen. I am pretty sure that the police chief was Spocks father in the most recent Star Trek film, seeing him also gave me some hope for the film, again..nope. Ultimately, not sure what the plot twist is. Can't watch the whole thing. Wish I didn't have to write 10 lines to get this review posted as Chips and Bruce Lee knock off really would sum it up for most folks.

This is a good effort. But the Supporting Actors (Not the Main two actors) actually not co-operative with the "Film". And Direction was weak. There is a scene, Questioning a explosive seller in a dark room, that Scene remembering me 1980's Indian films, but worse. If you're comparing this with Hindi(2008) original film, you would say "This film inspire from the 'Hindi one' but this film has poor cinematography". Then the Other-hand whole world suffering from the Terrorism. Suicide bombers are critical among all. Specially, if you have experience that terrorist acts are how cruel, you'll feel to your heart what I mean. We all "Common men" Must fight against Terrorism. I Hope this film would be a courage to all of us.

Ben Kingsley is one of those actors that is always amazing but takes on such a wide variety of strange roles that sometimes he gets thrown into something that he just can't save. At the same time he has delivered so many brilliant performances that those few missteps can be ignored. Fresh of the triumph of his awesome performance in Iron Man 3 comes his latest film A Common Man alongside Ben Cross. Will this be another great performance to add to his impressive resume or be lost in struggling film? A Common Man follows a terrorist who plants several bombs around the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka and threatens to detonate them unless prisoners are released. This is one of those movies that initially looks fairly low budget and could have easily fallen into obscurity if not for the star power of Ben Kingsley. The film opens leaving little mystery to what is happening and what Kingsley's character is up to or so you think. Thanks to some clever writing and another great performance by Kingsley this film takes an interesting and unexpected turn to create a film that is much better than it would have been. On the flip side most of those around the rest of the film deliver OK performances with Ben Cross seemingly just walking through his performance and offering nothing all that much the character or the film. This film plays as more of a thriller as opposed to an action film and leads you down a path that has been touched on numerous times, but quickly makes a U-turn into a completely different direction. This is an intriguing film that manages to create a story that is sure to keep you invested until the very end. As mentioned before while most of the performances do nothing to really suck you in, its Kingsley's performance that carries this movie. This isn't a perfect movie by any means, but does offer some interesting twists and turns that make this film worth checking out.

Seeing Ben Kingsly and Ben Cross on the cast, made me excited that they came to Sri Lanka to make a movie. I thought given the resources and talent available in the local film industry I expected a very convincing movie, but as most of us were, i was Thoroughly Disappointed. Firstly let me say that the dialog was utter crap. It was so bad, it had me laughing my sides out. The script seemed to meander purposelessly, and the police at the head quarters lacked the urgency you would usually find when a National Security department gets a bomb threat. To make things worse, the acting was just artificial and almost ammature. I doubt Mr Weeraman could ever out-do his terrible performance. This is possibly the lowest Mr Kingsly would ever reach in his career, I look forward to his performance in Iron Man 3.

"A terrorist plants several bombs throughout the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka and threatens to detonate them unless prisoners are released." That's the brief synopsis of this movie. That, and the poster art for this movie would lead you to believe it is an action-packed thriller. It isn't. It is a c-grade movie from Sri Lanka made for the direct-to-DVD, American market. Sri Lanka isn't known for its film industry, at least in the United States. Considering that it isn't a terrible movie. It just isn't the quality American film goers expect when plunking down $4.99 to view it from the local cable company. I'm not going to discuss the plot except to say --- think Die Hard without the special effects, decent acting, or passable dialog. I selected this because Ben Kingsley and Ben Cross had the leads, surrounded by a cast of Sri Lankan filmmakers and actors. The Sri Lankan film industry is young and the money isn't there to employ the film techniques the U.S. film industry has invented and perfected. So A Common Man gets some forgiveness here. It's a decent attempt to cater to the U.S. market. But most of the U.S. Audience will be disappointed by its overly amateurish feel. In this first place, as a struggling (read: hopeful) screenwriter, I was not surprised by the formalistic plot. All principal characters, and a few irrelevant ones --- included, no doubt, to create drama and/or a layer of unpredictability --- are introduced during the first thirty minutes. Unfortunately, the middle --- the place where characters are developed, the plot rises to its dramatic peak, and the way out presented --- is largely absent. In very real terms the movie goes from Act I to Act III with a cup of coffee in between. The dialog was rudimentary. Well, really not very good. One scene that stands out is a discussion between the principal character, played by Academy Award Winner, Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) and the tele-journalist, Dilky, played by Numaya Siriwardena, where Dikly is objecting to being used to facilitate the "crime" being perpetrated by Kingsley's character. A young journalist is being given the biggest story of her career and she is prattling on about the morality of it all. To top it off the dubbed dialog suffered from some very serious synchronization issues. The special effects were ... well ... not special. The camera work was a cross between a hand held wielded by someone with a neurological disorder and a stationary unit that did not permit Ben Cross from moving around apparently, to prevent him from walking out of the shot. The soundtrack was mediocre and frequently played over the actor's lines. The Sri Lankan actors were somewhat less-skilled than an introductory college theater class. Unfortunately, both Bens (Cross and Kingsley) sowed up, walked through their lines and left. Other reviewers on other sites have trashed these two fine actors for their somnambulistic performances. In reality, that's all that can be expected when two extraordinary actors are placed in the hands or a director who is very much less extraordinary and/or in a film with a paltry budget. Given all of this I still recommend this film. It is instructive not for the incompetence of the production crew --- for they are hardly that --- but because much can be learned from this early foray into the U.S. market by a foreign film industry in it's, by our standards, infancy. Recommendation: Watch but, with understanding eyes.

Well, after watching this movie for 10 minutes you know it's absolutely crap. Nothing fits in. In short it's one of the worst films ever made. The city lacks everything to be offered in a crime watch movie. I would say it's one of the worst locations ever chosen to make a movie. Ben Kingsly's character does not exactly fit in as 'A Common Man' over there. Set design is absolutely preposterous. Acting is horrible. Even academy award winner Sir Ben Kingsly delivers a poor and humiliating performance which probably is the rock bottom of his acting career. Even more so in the hand of Ben Cross who despite playing Barnabas Collins in the Dark Shadows series gives a merely juvenile performance. It keeps you wandering whether he is actually acting or just speaking in front of an Irish pub. In short the movie is vaguely pathetic. If this movie is going to win any awards it's going to be at the Golden Raspberry's. In short if you want to go see it; It's a no go. You could rather stay at home and peel potatoes for the time you waste on this.

This movie sucks so bad that my eyes couldn't believe!. I mean, come on!, the whole movie was filled with clichés like the tough guy wearing sunglasses (even in the dark) and fist fights so poorly acted. Sir Kingsley, I hope you are reading this and if so, you owe me one and a half hours of my life...and i want them back!. BTW, the way they speak through the entire movie reminded me of those English dubbed Chinese movies. It's very difficult to understand how a man who played such a profound role like Gandhi can perform such a terrible movie like this one. Overall, worst movie ever...and Mr. Kingsley, i mean it, i want my wasted time back!

Without question, a new addition to IMDb's "Worst 10 of All Time." Not sure it would be possible to pen a more absurd script..........even far more challenging to collect a more untalented team of supporting actors....no, wait, the script is that horrible.......nothing could be worse. I can only imagine that Ben Kingsley and Ben Cross did the Sri Lanka Movie Industry a favor by agreeing to offer their talents. Unfortunately, if this is the best they can produce, Sri Lanka will NEVER again be able to lure any B-Actor (or C, D, E or F-Level actor for that matter) from Hollywood. I honestly feel that any high school's Performing Arts Department could have created a more interesting story, delivered the dialog better and given some semblance of acting and directing ability. "DON'T quit your day job" is the only advice I could give the people who produced "A Common Man."

Acting is terrible. Script is weak and there is no real story going on except that some bald guy wants some people released from prison or he is going to set off bombs in the city. . Production value is very low budget. Didn't even finish watching the whole thing. How did they ever trick Ben Kingsley into making this movie. I'm surprised that they allowed it to be released. Its a career killer. The acting is more like a high school production or after school special from the 80's. I guess this was an attempt by Sri Lanka film industry to see what they can put on the big screen. Hopefully they give up after this one. I gave it a very generous 3/10.