Based on Francisco Gabeira's account of his involvement in the 1969 kidnapping of the U.S. ambassador to Brazil, Four Days In September flirts with a number of good angles without committing to any one in particular. The best of these concerns Gabeira himself (Pedro Cardoso), a college radical whose belief in Marxist convictions goes beyond a willingness to man a table at the student union. He joins a group of young, inexperienced revolutionaries ("a bunch of middle-class kids out for an adventure," their veteran leader complains) who hold a hostage (Alan Arkin) in exchange for the release of 15 political prisoners detained by the military dictatorship. An unlikely captive-captor kinship, known as the Stockholm Syndrome, develops as authorities quickly threaten to bring the operation to a violent end. It would take some effort to botch this remarkable true story—and, if director Bruno Baretto (Dona Flor And Her Two Husbands) lacks the force of vision to make a great movie out of it, he has a talent for not screwing up. Part Battle Of Algiers, part Dog Day Afternoon, Four Days In September spreads itself thin: It's at once a moment-by-moment study of terrorist tactics, a desperately funny riff on a mission dogged by incompetence, a sympathetic look at the opposing sides, and a reflection on the value of political activism. There's a love story thrown in there, too, if you look closely. Although he has some trouble leaping from one thread to another, Baretto gets fine performances from his actors (especially the understated Arkin), and drops in some telling observations about amateur guerrillas whose preference for carry-out nearly costs them their lives.