Terry Allen (Peter Krause) has been downsized out of his job. He is a CPA, he and his wife Marla (Kari Matchett) are about to buy a house, and suddenly he has a lot time of his hands. With TVs and radios everywhere, he’s constantly bombarded by the media which pushes out ideas, thoughts and conjecture about terrorism 24/7. The idle mind being the devil’s playground, things get heightened when Gabe Hassan (Khaled Abol Naga) moves in downstairs. Allen does some checking around and finds out that Hassan doesn’t have a phone, his apartment is unfurnished and he is a student doing something with chemicals. With the news talking about biological warfare and vigilance against terrorists, Allen takes action by contacting Agent Hillary (Richard Schiff) of the FBI.
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This however isn’t enough and Allen continues digging around. As he reports more and more of his findings to Agent Hillary and his wife, he begins to sound a little bit crazy. Then, Allen finds out that the FBI might be investigating him. Jobless, obsessed and unwilling to let go of his thoughts of a terrorist living below him, Allen eventually pushes anybody that could really help him away. He finally confronts Hassan, taking him hostage and demanding explanations for everything he has discovered. In the end, Allen’s fear becomes such that it can’t help but turn tragic.
Jeff Renfroe’s Civic Duty is one of the best looks at our current society that I have seen. 9/11 has forever changed this country. It has changed the way wars are fought, it has changed how we live amongst one another, and it has changed how we view everyone we do and do not know. This film clearly captures the confusion that seems to be all a part of the equation of fighting terrorists. I remember reading Bob Woodward’s Bush At War, where it talks about how threat levels will be raised and certain things that aren’t 100% true will be released to the media. The goal is that this misinformation could disrupt any prospective terrorist plots that might be brewing. The problem, when you start dealing with these untruths, is that it can suddenly call into question everything that is reported. What is true and what isn’t true creates a climate where nobody knows what to believe. Civic Duty clearly shows what happens when somebody believes too much and too little in the democracy with which they live
Peter Krause, Richard Schiff, Kari Matchett and Khaled Abol Naga are all terrific in their roles. Krause is the perfect everyman in Terry Allen. We never see him go completely over the top, and this allows us to always believe that he may have actually uncovered a terrorist cell. In fact, since we see the film through his eyes, it becomes even easier for us to understand and even applaud his preemptive attitude. Matchett, as his wife, seems to be a little too eager to accept that Hassan isn’t guilty of anything. However, my feelings on this might have more to do with the aforementioned perspective that this film has. Richard Schiff plays the the FBI Agent to perfection because we only see him with Allen. Who knows what he is doing when he’s not around? Is he working these leads that he’s writing down? Has Allen stumbled on to something that could unwittingly blow a Bureau investigation? We don’t know but all of this adds to the confusion and paranoia that is Terry Allen’s world.
In the end, Civic Duty makes us wonder where our country is headed. There isn’t a definitive answer only questions such as has the FBI missed the opportunity of what Allen has told them? Are they in on some conspiracy? Do they want their to be another terrorist attack because that’s all a part of the confusion (and heightened fear level) that they feel is needed in this country? At the end of the day, Civic Duty works because it allows us to see a microcosm of the pool of conspiracies and paranoia that the U.S. is currently drenched in. In many ways things seem normal, but as this film points out, it is that normalcy that should scare us the most.
