If you thought Stuart Townsend was nothing more than that guy hanging on Charlize Theron's arm at every red carpet event, you would be wrong. Not only was he in the very short-lived Night Stalker, but he's also written and directed his own movie, Battle in Seattle. And he got a great cast (Andre Benjamin, Ray Liotta, Michelle Rodriguez, Woody Harrelson, Connie Nielsen, and, of course, Charlize) to sign on. Surprisingly enough, it actually looks decent. It's based on the actual 1999 World Trade Organization convention and ensuing protests in Seattle, and it looks like it hits all the right notes: gritty, sad and informative. The biggest surprise, though, is that it seems like a fairly balanced depiction. From the looks of it, Townsend chose to approach the event from many perspectives (Liotta as a Seattle suit helping to host the WTO; Harrelson as a riot cop; Rodriguez as a protester), but not in that insipid "Let's watch the event from multiple angles" way, a la Vantage Point. Thank GOD. Instead, it appears that the film tries to actually show us how this event changed all of these people's lives -- not just those you'd expect to agree with, but everyone's. A semi-political movie that's sort of unbiased? I can't wait for the fallout.

Reviews By People Who've Actually Seen It:
Variety
Rotten Tomatoes