A Brilliant Conflict

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This independent movie of an completely (to me at least) unknown director was surprisingly good, reminding me the sophisticated plots and turns in the way we perceive the characters of the early movies of David Mamet. I recommend that you watch it as a a psychological drama, and not as some general commentary about terrorism. The movie starts like an immigrant to American relations drama, with a_ little_too_good_to_be_true Muslim cab driver Abdel Kechiche taking for a night ride alcoholic and frustrated TV producer Robin Wright Penn. We soon find ourselves in the typical immigrant drama, with an actual component, as the brother of the cab driver is a prisoner in Guantanamo, soon to be shipped to Syria where he would be tortured or worse. An soon after we start finding out that all this is a set up for a very different type of drama, a psychological one, where the culprit lies somewhere else, and the impact of terrorism in the day to day life comes from an unexpected place.There are some details in the movie that make the story non-credible, and some of the political touches are too exaggerated. And yet, the quality of Robin Wright Penn's acting, and the delicate balance of the relation in film changing from empathy to stupor and hate and emotion towards the final and brutal twist leaves a very special feeling. Not all corners may be perfect in the story of the film, but there is a level of truth and anxiety about our lives that makes it step ahead of the crowd.

This self-indulgent vanity project is a superb example of why writers should not direct their own movies. The film showed real promise at the beginning and the acting is fine. However, the tempo and plot are uneven and often under-developed. Most importantly, the movie suffers from a split personality about half way in and the director/writer can't quite decide what film he's making. The movie is one part moving emotional drama. The drama centers around a troubled woman just trying to get by and make sense of post 9/11 New York city. However, the movie is also part pointless thriller/horror. This thriller/horror element of the film is poorly crafted and simply does not mesh with the rest of the film. Instead, it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The thing that depressed me most about this movie is that I felt that there was a genuinely amazing film buried somewhere underneath the train wreck of this film.

As soon as she started talking about acts of vandalism and terrorist stuff, this movie immediately reminded me of google video government mind control. Ie: phillips and obrien, Ted Gunderson, satinism and MKUltra.The movie has unanswered questions that would actually tie it to our own government.The US government takes small children that are subject to child abuse in the homes and then trains them to be terrorist.Don't believe me, check out the fact Ata (supposed 911 pilot was living and training on a military base).The poor immigrant was set up as a terrorist. But really a patsy.

This moving is very polarizing. I didn't like it, because I am an Arab and a Muslim and I felt the injustice of the taxi driver more personally the most of the audience, but my friend loved it, and thought it was thought provoking. Which it is. I will not ruin the ending for the reader, but it will shock you, so be prepared. Additionally, it isn't one of those movies that is very well balanced. In a sense, I didn't really care what Philly's motivations where in the movie, and the director's efforts at showing her as unstable were a bit heavy handed and clichéd. Other than that, the movie was fine, but not exceptional and NOT about Guantanamo.