Civic Duty (2006)

An American accountant bombarded with cable news and the media's obsession with terrorist plots in the post 9-11 world, receives a jolt when an unattached Islamic graduate student moves in next door.

Director:

Jeff Renfroe

Writer:

Andrew Joiner

Stars:

Peter Krause, Kal Naga, Richard Schiff

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peter Krause	...	Terry Allen
Kari Matchett	...	Marla Allen
Richard Schiff	...	FBI Agent Tom Hilary
Kal Naga	...	Gabe Hassan (as Khaled Abol Naga)
Ian Tracey	...	Lieutenant Randall Lloyd
Vanesa Tomasino	...	Bank Teller
Laurie Murdoch	...	Loan Officer
Michael Roberds	...	Post Office Clerk
Agam Darshi	...	Nurse
Mark Brandon	...	Night Anchor Bret Anderson
Brenda Crichlow	...	Day Anchor Tricia Wise (as Brenda M. Crichlow)
Val Cole	...	Morning Anchor Susan Harwood
Mark Docherty	...	News Reporter Chad Winslow
Michael St. John Smith	...	Legal Analyst
P. Lynn Johnson	...	Govenor Bradley

Storyline

Shortly after landing a job, Terry Allen is laid off, starts looking for another circa post September 11, 2001 media frenzy and paranoia with President George W. Bush stating that grief has turned to anger, anger to resolution, and that there are thousands of terrorists in over 60 countries ready to strike. With increasing reports of identity theft, the involvement of wealthy & educated foreigners in terrorist activities, Terry starts suspecting his new neighbor, a middle-easterner, who he stereotypes as 'raghead', 'camel jockey', and 'sand nigger'. His wife, Marla, does not share in his bigotry, but he believes that she has turned her attention from rock-stars to Jihadists. While looking for employment, as well as a loan to purchase a house, he also contacts the Federal Bureau of Investigation as he feels he has sufficient evidence that his new neighbor is structuring money, experimenting with chemicals, and associating with other middle-easterners for devious reasons.

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Plot Keywords:

neighbor | paranoia | accountant | kitchen | watching tv | 

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Taglines:

The War On Terror Just Came Home

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some threatening situations

Details

Country:

UK USA Canada

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

11 September 2008 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

Dever Cívico

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$3,400,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$54,902, 6 May 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$54,902, 6 May 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

Civic Duty Productions, Intandem Films, Landslide Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The cast has strong ties to Aaron Sorkin's television projects: Peter Krause starred as anchor Casey McCall in Sports Night (1998), Richard Schiff was communications director Toby Ziegler on The West Wing (1999), and Kari Matchett did a five-episode run on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006) as attorney Mary Tate.

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Goofs

All the news scrolls go from left to right, but news scrolls go right to left (at least in languages that read left to right) so you see the first words first. This makes it impossible to read. The filmmakers did this intentionally, and it's up to the viewer to decide why they did it this way.

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Quotes

Bank Teller: Did you know sir, in the future you can also use the ATM machine just outside the front doors and avoid the waiting in line for a teller?
Terry Allen: Yes I did, thank you.
Bank Teller: I love our customers prefer that option actually.
Terry Allen: Really? Do you know what ATM stands for ? Automatic Teller Machine. So when you say ATM machine, what you're actually saying is automatic teller machine machine. Now either you're just being ignorantly redundant or you really want to emphasize that machine part. In which case you're not ...

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Georgia Rule/Away from Her/The Ex/28 Weeks Later/Civic Duty (2007)

User Reviews

Frustration, Bigotry, Alienation and Paranoia

After being laid off in a downsizing of his company, the bitter and bigoted American accountant Terry Allen (Peter Krause) faces financial problems with the mortgage of his house. He uses his available time to snoop his downstairs neighbor Gabe Hassan (Khaled Abol Naga), a Middle Eastern student that is having his Master degree sponsored by an Islamic organization in an American university, and calls the FBI to tell his suspicion. However, FBI Agent Tom Hilary (Richard Schiff) asks him to forget Hassan. When Terry tells his wife Marla Allen (Kari Matchett) that he had contacted FBI, she becomes upset and leaves Terry. However, his obsessive bigotry and alienation trigger paranoia against his neighbor and a tragic conclusion.

"Civic Duty" repeats the storyline of "Rear Window", i.e., a neighbor snooping another one, to expose in low pace the prejudice and alienation against immigrants in USA after the infamous September, 11th. Peter Krause gives a top-notch performance in the role of an average American citizen of middle-class, frustrated by the unemployment, bombed by the media with shallow information against Islamic people and his alienation and bigotry becoming paranoia that the poor Islamic student is associated to a terrorist group. The plot is totally believable and the tragic conclusion is very realistic. Unfortunately, the DVD released by FOX gives wrong information in the cover, since it has NO SUBTITLES and NO CLOSED CAPTION. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): Not Available