The Worst Film Ever

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This film is just another try to tell a "innocent USA" and "bad Muslim" story. The facts mentioned are not all proved and often just wild guessing.As we all know have the terrorists been trained in CIA schools (Florida). It is mentioned in the movie but links were not followed. Too sad.We know already that terrorists got into the USA although their documents were faulty. How could that happen if it was not wanted/arranged? The FBI/CIA even knew these guys.The 1993 bombings already showed involvement of the ICA/FBI into those "terror groups" - but no one seems to remember. Too sad.The translations of the OBL tape revealed that Osama was against US culture and lifestyle but that there was absolutely no link hidden or obvious about the 9/11 attacks. This should have been mentioned in the movie.It is funny that again someone tries to tell us that some people 10000 km away could arrange such a coup alone without the help or even involvement of people in high positions within the USA. A A better movie with more proved links would be "Operation Terror".

I saw this film at the Houston WorldFest where it won the Special Jury prize and found it to be one of the best movies made in the wake of September 11th. A gritty portrayal of the kidnapping of an American journalist by Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan, it seems to be inspired by the story of Daniel Pearl, which makes it riveting viewing. Dehlavi doesn't fall into the traps others have: he eschews sentimentality, refusing to romanticize the victims of Islamic terror, instead portraying his hero, (here called Arnold Silverman) as an essentially good man flawed with an almost hubristic idealism and persistance which leads him further into the terrorists' labyrinth...a comment perhaps on post 9-11 American foreign policy. Dehlavi's portrayal of the well-educated but murderous British-born Islamist terrorists seems prophetic because the film was made before the London Tube bombings. It's a lesson on the birth of Islamic fundamentalism in Britain, following two young British-Pakistanis from English boarding school to Kosovo to Pakistan, where Silverman finally encounters them. All the elements come together. From the first shocking images to the last, with impressive scenes in between, the film holds your attention. Excellent, painterly cinematography and first rate acting by the leads, Kevin Collins and Raza Jaffrey. This is a film that should be seen as much for the story as for its message of hope and its justified criticisms of political intransigence in the West and within Islam.