Catch a Fire is a real life story of standing up for what is right, even if the cost is great. It is a brave film in this day and age, especially in America. It is a story that, while aimed directly at doing the right thing no matter the cost, falls on the side of pro-terrorism. It is a fascinating dichotomy. On one hand, you want to be the one doing the right thing, standing up and fighting against oppression. I am sure all of you would agree that is the right thing to do. On the other hand, the tactics employed are terrorist acts, especially when considering all that has happened over the past five years.

Patrick Chamusso (Derek Luke) is a man who has kept his head down and worked hard. He has a good job as a foreman at a large oil refinery, la ovely wife and children, and coaches the local children's soccer team. He is not a man without problems. He had an affair, which resulted in a son with another woman. The affair is over, but he is still involved in his son's life. It is this relationship that casts suspicion upon him.

One day, there is an explosion at the refinery, a decidedly terrorist act. This was a time when apartheid was in effect, a white government keeping the black population down. The government regime kidnapped, tortured, and murdered in order to keep themselves in power. Patrick Chamusso was a victim of the government. He is arrested and tortured as a suspect, and when he doesn't give the answers they want, they torture his wife.

When he is released, he is a changed man. His eyes have been truly opened to the horrors the government perpetrates against the people of the nation. If they will do these awful things to its people for no reason, perhaps he should take a stand and give them a reason. He joins up with the resistance, at the cost of his family. He goes on to stage a bombing at his former employer's refinery.