New on DVD: 'Catch a Fire'

Catch a Fire (PG-13)

A family man radicalized by political injustice (Derek Luke) plays cat-and-mouse with a government enforcer (Tim Robbins) in this events-based film set in apartheid-era South Africa. Director Phillip Noyce delivers dramatic tension, if not quite the prime-grade poignancy of his 2002 Australia-set work, "Rabbit-Proof Fence." The township perspective seems authentically rendered, with sparing but effective use of news footage. Luke simmers as a man (real-life activist Patrick Chamusso) driven to take up arms for the African National Congress. Bonnie Mbuli quietly matches his potency in the role of Chamusso's wife. Robbins lends complexity to his Afrikaner character, policeman Nic Vos. All of that outweighs a somewhat formulaic feel. Extras: Standard-issue voic e-over commentary and deleted scenes. Grade: B