‘Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant’ review: War film is muddled

You won’t find a wisecracking Matthew McConaughey smoking a joint in Guy Ritchie’s new movie “The Covenant.”

The prolific British director has, for the moment, left behind quirky crime and comedy for his Afghanistan war film — and it’s not hard to understand why. 

The story the movie is based on is a harrowing and special one. An Army sergeant and an Afghan interpreter are on the run from the Taliban, when the American is knocked unconscious and his companion must go to extraordinary lengths to save him.

What hampers “The Covenant” — also weirdly titled “Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant,” which is something Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese would not do — is the director’s clashing sensibilities. 

Ritchie craves seriousness, but he has military guys speak with quick-fire cleverness like wacky gangsters. He wants a war film, but the endless ambushes and shootouts hew closer to the traditional action genre he’s more comfortable with. And, in the sergeant’s quest to repay his savior, the director pursues teary emotion but seems confused on how to deliver it.

He’s cast the right duo, though. Jake Gyllenhaal, who’s been taking on a lot of gruff roles lately, plays Army Sgt. John Kinley and the skilled Dar Salim is Ahmed. 

When Ahmed is assigned to Kinley’s team that is tasked with seeking out and destroying Taliban explosives, the two are frosty. They begin to respect each other when the interpreter proves to not only be reliable, but unfailingly loyal. 

Ahmed has good reason to stay in line. He has been promised US visas for himself, his wife and their unborn child.

The first third of the movie is mostly sniper fire and chatter at the Army base; the second is Kinley and Ahmed’s treacherous trek through the Afghan wilderness; and the final part is Kinley attempting to fulfill the visa promise in the manner of a guy-gone-rogue thriller.

The duo’s journey is gripping, but long stretches elsewhere in the film drag and it feels much longer than two hours.

Gyllenhaal creates a compelling mix of machismo and sensitivity, though his guilt when Kinley returns to America is muddled. It is suggested he might be an alcoholic and have PTSD, but both are only touched on. The character of his wife is flatter than Iowa. Even if Kinley’s erratic behavior is solely caused by his concern for Ahmed’s safety, its depiction is confusing.

Salim is excellent as an interpreter with a messy past who keeps his cards close to the vest. The actor embodies a man who could believably wade through all these tricky situations, and who lies (for heroic reasons) with disconcerting ease. 

It’s good to see Ritchie branch out — just like after “Snatch” and “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” he made us all do a double-take with “Aladdin.” Not everything works in “The Covenant,” but he’s not lost in the desert, either.