The right will be the first to suspect a contemporary political message buried in Tim Robbins' new film, "Catch a Fire." And they'd be right -- parallels are evident linking white South Africa's brutal crackdown on African National Congress terrorists in the 1980s and aspects of the United States' post-9/11 war on terror.

	Tim Robbins -- Displays great sensitivity in "Catch a Fire." Click photo for larger image. 'Catch a Fire' Rating: PG-13 for thematic material involving torture and abuse, violence and brief language Starring: Tim Robbins, Derek Luke Director: Phillip Noyce Family Film Guide Web site: http://www.catchafiremovie.com/

But political motives are hardly the point here. Based on a true story, "Catch a Fire" illuminates merits of both sides of the debate on terror and ignites precisely the kinds of discussions the hawkish right needs to have with the liberal left.

A tense political thriller from the director of "Clear and Present Danger," "Patriot Games" and "Sliver," "Catch a Fire" is the story of Patrick Chamusso, an apolitical foreman at a South African fuel-generation plant who in 1980 was mistakenly accused of terrorism and tortured by the government. Outraged, Chamusso left his job and family, trained in Mozambique with an ANC terrorist cell, returned undercover to the plant where he had worked and almost singlehandedly destroyed it. He was captured again and served 10 years of a 24-year sentence before the apartheid government was overthrown by the ANC. He is now lauded by his countrymen as a freedom fighter and hero of the war against apartheid and appears in documentary footage at the end of this film.

Derek Luke ("Antwone Fisher," "Friday Night Lights") makes Chamusso's conversion from innocent family man to terrorist with a death wish seem perfectly plausible, even noble. With great sensitivity and cold detachment, Robbins powerfully plays the two faces of a character cobbled from two actual South African anti-terrorism specialists. The psychological parrying is perfectly played by both actors.

Despite the buzz and on closer inspection, "Catch a Fire" is less effective as a contemporary metaphor than as a historically based drama. It's true that the government-sanctioned torture of Chamusso -- excruciating to watch on film -- drove him to join the terrorists. It's true, as shown in the film, that early in his ordeal Chamusso repeatedly lied to government investigators, convincing them that he had information about terrorist attempts to destroy a strategically vital industrial plant that provided much of the nation's energy. And it's equally true that the film's benign depiction of the ANC's surgical, bloodless terror attacks were scripted by screenwriter Shawn Slovo, daughter of the Communist ANC leader showcased in the movie.

As for drawing comparisons between the motives and tactics of the ANC's 20th-century fight against apartheid and Islamic fundamentalism's 21st-century battle against Western civilization, I'll leave that for your post-movie coffee conversations.