Audiences don’t seem to be digging the new movie ‘Beirut,’ which hit the silver screen on April 11. The film has a rotten 56% score on movie review site Rotten Tomatoes.
Several movie buffs have complained the plot follows a stereotypical action sequence. One user wrote, “Pretty generic [movie], but at least Jon Hamm is easy on the eyes.”
The film follows the story of a former American diplomat who returns to service in Beirut in order to save a colleague from a group responsible for the death of his family.
John Hamm, Rosamund Pike, Dean Norris and Shea Whigham all star in the espionage thriller film.
Social media users have complained the film dehumanizes Arabs and Muslims and ignores the political complexities of the Lebanese Civil War.
In a New York Times article, culture reporter Sopan Deb called the film offensive and dehumanizing. He says there are no Lebanese actors featured in the film, and cites the hashtag #BoycottBeirutMovie as evidence of the trailer’s reception in Lebanon.
Critics also say the film wasn’t shot in Lebanon, and has no Lebanese actors, directors, or cast members.
Daniel Schindel of The Film Stage writes, “Beirut has zero character as a setting, reduced to a generic backdrop of rubble and sand.”
The movie was released on April 11, 2018 and is currently playing in theaters in the U.S. and around the world.