Inspired by real events about the French New Wave darling and Breathless star, Jean Seberg, who in the late 1960s was targeted by Hoover’s FBI, because of her political and romantic involvement with civil rights activist Hakim Jamal.
Movie star Jean Seberg (Kristen Stewart) becomes a target for the FBI after becoming involved with Black Panther member Hakim Jamal (Anthony Mackie). Wanting to be known for more than movies, Jeans encounters Hakim Jamal on a flight and decides to support his movement. As the government considers the Black Panther Party a threat, they hire agents Jack Solomon (Jack O’Connell) and Carl Kowalski (Vince Vaughn) to keep a close watch on their activities. When they notice Jean’s frequent trips to and from the home of Hakim, agent Solomon becomes obsessed with figuring out her real motives.
When they discover she is not only sleeping with Hakim Jamal but writing huge checks to his organization, they construct lies to the media with the intent of shaming her publicly. With no real reason to make an arrest, they bug her home and harass her, eventually breaking up her marriage and destroying her life. Agent Solomon begins to feel sympathy for Jean and secretly warns her of what they are doing but she ends up rejecting his help and her life falls apart in the end.
I wanted to like this movie but I couldn’t figure out whether the story was supposed to focus on the government’s plan to take down Hakim Jamal and the Black Panther Party or a story about a woman’s unfortunate affairs. There wasn’t enough in-depth information about why they wanted to bring down the Panthers and there certainly wasn’t enough of a story of why they were so concerned with Jean Seberg. I felt it dragged on and was way too dramatic with how she was being harassed when she could have just sent her checks of support and kept out of his bed, seems like that would have solved the problem. Maybe there was more going on in real life but the movie didn’t make me feel it and by the end, I was ready to leave the theater.
In Theaters Friday, December 13th
It sounds like a perfectly interesting story which doesn\’t quite meet it\’s potential. I agree with your opinion about her staying out of his bed and just write the checks. I haven\’t seen the movie yet; however, I\’m bored with lazy connections in movies and the need to drag women down via thin movie plots. Kristen Stewart sells tickets right now, so.