User reviews

I liked it so much because it is complex and doesn't give easy answers. The War Within starts out with an innocent man walking down the streets of Paris and talking on his cell phone. Out of nowhere, a group of men jump out of a black SUV, grab the man on his cell, throw him into the SUV, and ship him to a prison camp in Pakistan where he is then tortured for the next three years. And all this happens even before the opening credits.

The man on his cell phone is named Hassan, and the men in the black SUV are American CIA agents who kidnap and torture Hassan because (we later learn) his brother lead a peaceful anti-war protest in Afghanistan. Three years later, after enough torture and abuse to drive any man crazy, Hassan is released from prison and travels to America to get his revenge. So clearly he's a bad guy, right? But then again, he was no threat to anyone before he was kidnapped, beaten, and tortured for three years. So then is America the bad guy? What makes The War Within so intelligent and so superb is that isn't a story about good guys and bad guys. It's a story about the mammoth "War on Terror" and how it affects a single group of Pakistani immigrants in New York. The only bad guys are the acts of violence themselves, and all sides of guilty of that. You absolutely have to see this exquisite character study and you have to tell everyone you know to see it, too.

Contrary to what some have written here, "The War Within" is not anti-American. The film, written by Ayad Akhtar, Joseph Castelo and Tom Glynn, raises some intriguing questions and questions some of our government's actions. Doing that isn't anti-American. Questioning what our leaders do, the orders they give, the policies they install is very American.

"The War Within" never portrays American people as evil or xenophobic. Quite the opposite. But Akhtar, Castelo and Glynn never dig beneath the surface of their story to probe characters' motivations or even some important issues, such as extraordinary renditions. Isn't that a wonderful euphemism for transporting terror suspects - emphasis on suspects - to countries of their origin so that they can be tortured and our leaders can absolve themselves by saying, "We do not torture?"

The trouble with this film is that we never get to see Hassan's (Akhtar) inner turmoil, the war within himself. There's no internal conflict here - we don't see him grappling with moral issues. He has his mind set on his mission and nothing will make him change his mind, not even the love of a woman.

For this film to work, the transformation of Hassan is absolutely crucial. Unfortunately, that is handled with a simple super-imposed title card: "Three Years Later." Huh? Those three years are imperative. We never find out what made him change. Why he did it, especially given his obviously western influences. Had the writers bothered to delve into the hows and whys, it would have made for a crackerjack movie.

As much as our illustrious leader would like to simplify the enemy's reasoning with, "They hate our freedoms," the actual issue is far more complex than that. And this film avoids a terrific opportunity to tap into that complexity and show the western world what it is that makes a seemingly rational man to so drastically change his world view that he's willing to commit unimaginable horrors.

Who has such power that they're able to convert people? How do they operate? What is their mode of operation? What do they teach? How do they manipulate seemingly well-educated adults? The writers and director, who also is Castelo, never bother to ask, let alone answer, these questions. Instead, much of the plotting seems rather superficial.

Castelo wants us to understand Hassan, but never gives us any insight into his character. We never even find out whether Hassan really was innocent? Just addressing that simple issue would have added such depth to this film and to his character.

The filmmakers raise the interesting point about whether we really know the people who are close to us. And there are brief glimpses of brilliance when we see how children can easily be manipulated by unethical adults. That still doesn't answer how an adult can be turned around.

"The War Within" is an admirable attempt to show us another, very important and oft-ignored, side of post-9/11 America. Castelo gets good performances from his actors. But he shortchanges them with a story that never taps its full potential.

It's a good sign that there are intrepid filmmakers out there willing to make movies that dare to tackle such issues. In this case, Castelo could have been a bit more daring to really get into his lead character's skin to reveal a complex person. "The War Within" never is as provocative as it ought to be and that's a shame.

THE WAR WITHIN is a chilling and frightening tale of a Pakistani family torn between the "American dream" and the love and affection for a family member whose religious zeal and goal to destroy America will tear them apart. Joseph Castelo has directed and written a very important film which hopefully will receive a wide audience to educate Americans of the problems we live with today in a "post 9/11/01 United States of America".

The film is a contrast between the world of terrorism, and the warmth of a family who attempt to make Hassan feel at home back in America, and to show him what this country has given them, and what America might also do for him, without giving up their Pakistani heritage, but wanting Hassan to adapt and fit in as they have done. And to live a happy and productive life.

The final scenes are so dramatic and full of suspense and dread as you hope for a "Hollywood ending", only to find that Hassan's personal WAR WITHIN will lead to something else.

America has always been a melting pot and a symbol of hope for those coming to our shores, THE WAR WITHIN is a wonderful example to show an audience that we must still look at diversity as a blessing for America, and not a curse. Thank you Joseph Castelo and Ayad Akhtar for this film.

I'm going to be bold and say that this is one of the most enlightening films I have seen in a very long time. Not only is it a phenomenal depiction of Muslim-American life, but it also presents an informative insight to the terrorist ideology that very few Americans understand. Many may think that a movie dealing with terrorism is meant to stir up controversy and dispute. I did not find this movie to be politically-charged nor offensive. It is purely the story of a man struggling with both the anger imposed on him by American intelligence and the happiness he once knew with his close friends. Regardless of your personal beliefs based on religion, terrorism, the war, etc… each and every person who lives in America has something to gain through thought and reflection after seeing this movie.

True, as the New York Times said, there wasn't much subtext, and some opportunities were missed- but I fell into this film and ended up liking it a lot. The actor who plays HASSAN was truly wonderful, with very little dialogue. I felt his pain, and was interested in his journey.

And the shots of him walking around New York, wired for action, were truly harrowing. The ending was beautifully done- clearly on a budget, but much more effective- and the family was terrific, in particular the father and the little boy.

All the acting was fine, as was the music and the photography. My only beef was with the script, which did feel a bit thin at times, but the STORY itself was compelling indeed.

Riveting movie presenting the story of a man becoming an Islamist terrorist after being falsely charged and tortured. But I don't understand the title. I didn't really see the man struggle inside. On the contrary, he seemed to be very determined right from the start and did not seem to have serious doubts at any point. Where's the "war within"? Also, the movie doesn't help a lot to make the viewer understand his motives. Every time he is asked to present his views about the conflict between the Muslim world and the West, he just says "Let's not talk about that", and walks away. And although he writes a letter to his friends explaining his motives, it's still too sketchy and insufficient. Basically he says his Muslim brothers are suffering all over the world, and that's about it. So, although the movie is enjoyable, it remains superficial and lacking.

I think this is a very important film to be coming from these talented young filmmakers from the United States. It intelligently and gracefully opens up an essential and pressing debate in our culture about the origins of present terrorism. See this film and engage in the process of trying to understand what seems impossible to understand. It brings the debate home into our streets and lives unlike anything Ihave seen yet. As a film in aesthetic terms, it is very strong. The performances are nuanced and at times powerful. And the story is an essential one to see, to think about, to grapple with. Whether you accept the propositions of the film or not, the timeliness and the willingness to deal with the big themes of our day is indisputable.

THE WAR WITHIN is one of the most original and daring films ever made about terrorism because it does not present its suicide bomber protagonist as a religious fanatic. Instead, the anti-hero of the film is an intelligent, thoughtful man who has come to this place in life not out of a simplistic emotional reaction or as a religious zealot, but as a protest and as an almost rational response to mistreatment. The film is riveting and hard to watch (often at the same time) and would make a terrific "class trip" for high school and college educators, or for anyone who appreciates smart movies with no easy answers.

I had the pleasure of catching The War Within at Toronto last week. It's a deeply striking movie. We all knew it was a matter of time until a movie of this type was made, but no one expected it to be good. Who wants to see a terrorist movie? In this case, we all should. They've created an experience that accurately portrays contemporary ideologies, frightening circumstance, and consequence. The movie grips you from the beginning and holds you. While the stakes are obviously high, it's the character study that makes an impression. To a watch a terrorist, rooted in Islamic fundamentalism, come face to face with the culture and the people he's declared war on is amazing. The complexity of Hassan's situation: the spectrum of his past and division of his present forces the audience to analyze his decision.

For such a candid movie, it leaves us with questions. Fortunately, it's the questions we need to ask.

This will probably not reach a wide audience. A pity: it's one of the best films I have ever seen, with superb acting & direction. The subject is uncomfortable: it portrays those who inner lives are neither respected or investigated with any depth. But in this movie, you know you are watching the pain & rage of the dispossessed. At every stage, your interest is held & the cinematography is astonishing. I have never seen New York so well depicted, both the beauty & the squalor.It is also a tense & exciting thriller, the story is gripping. I have never heard of any of the people involved. I note the star is a co-writer. Clearly, these are people to look out for. Please go with an open mind-the film will enrich you-and might make you change your mind. For once, a film that is intellectually gripping.BRAVO.

This movie features the largest pile of crap I've ever seen piled in one place. None of the 19 Sept. 11 terrorists were abducted and beaten. They did it of their own free will. Same goes for the Madrid, Bali and London terrorists. To make it seem that the US is the cause of the terror problem shows a twisted logic so profound that in belies description.

Islamic terrorists are not nice guys fighting for a gentle cause. They want the world ruled under Islamic law.

The movies director plainly has stated during interviews that we should have empathy for these devils. Empathy for people who want to kill us for our religious affiliation? Empathy for people who kill fellow Muslims with no more compunction then one has squashing a bug.

If the people the director wants to love into submission had their way, the director would find himself dead, along with the rest of the elitist Hollywood types who embody everything the terrorists hate about the West.

It's too bad that more movies this intelligent and compelling are not made in the U.S. It's fantastic that this one was though, even though probably not nearly enough people will ever get to see it. I feel very fortunate to have had the privilege. Some excellent performances make the characters seem very real. The perspective of this film was really interesting, looking at what Hassan goes through inside along his path to extremism. You glimpse some of what it was changed him and it helps to understand his ideology, twisted as it is. It's frightening how it seems even given all the apparent tension in his mind, he is still totally committed to his plan, and you see how his religion fits into that. There's a lot to think about after watching this film. All in all, a superb movie about a very relevant topic to most everyone today.

The film wants to be as gentle and delicate as its instrumental guitar soundtrack, while at the same time trying to take a nuanced look at politics and piety. Interesting to read the reviews here, as I think this movie is pretty clearly pro-US by the time credits roll.

Sadly still the terrorist two-step continues on (and I'm assuming *most* here would it admit it takes two to tango in that ongoing dance of death). The film was released around 2005 so of course it has echoes of the horrors of 9/11, a very solemn moment as Hassan is offered a job, and the Twin Towers serve as a reference point.

At the same time, the scandal at Abu Ghraib was well-known by then and we were finding out that extraordinary rendition might be more ordinary than one would like.

Of course this film is just one story. And the backstory for Hassan has a pretty significant gap from his Duran Duran days to his holier-than-thou most Muslim man in the room.

Felt to me like one major motif was how new terrorists can be created inadvertently while chasing down known terrorists. That was pretty much screamed by a huge electronic billboard in this otherwise quiet and unsettling film.

One movie won't fix things, for you or Flight 93 or Shafiq Rasul.

While I want my country (the not-exactly-United States) to be better, I do appreciate we can have a mix of films, discussion and people. The mixture of multiple truths is where things get tricky.

i am a Muslim, an Iranian..and have known the torture the people of such countries as Iran, Pakistan...south Americans survive and endure I think the director takes us on the journey of the struggle a man has after he has been terrorized, terrified, and hypnotized by the fanatical pain and rage that drives him to destroy a family he loves, a soul that no loner can bear the memories of his own torture. a brave and true vision of what a fanatical suicide bomber lives, what drives him. so beautifully shot, and sad to see how a man can lose all that he loves . a touching, brave film...Joseph Castello is a director to watch . the actors follow his lead and invite us into the struggle of the man and his inner war. a film to see and think about. it is real

I love this film. It works. It moved me, it frightened me and it shocked me. The idea of a fundamentalist suicide bomber living among his victims before his attack is one which strikes deep.

I didn't see Hassan simply as a machine or as a monster or as the incarnation of evil. I saw him as a man, like all men, capable of MAKING himself into a machine or a monster or the incarnation of evil should he chose to do so. And this film is about a man who makes that choice. Thankfully the filmmakers knew that the reasons for such a choice can't be explained in an entire lifetime let alone two hours.

All of the acting is refreshingly true. FIRDOUS BAMJI is heartbreaking. But AYAD AKHTAR holds it all together. His subtle portrayal is enough reason to see this film. He didn't take the easy road and serve as yet another facile illustration of how simple it is to tell the good guys from the bad guys.

This film asks those questions we in the West have been asking since September 11th. Most of them start with the word "how?" In art asking the questions as truthfully as you can is always better than providing the answers.

I saw an advance screening of this film and I must say, I was blown away. I'm so impressed that a film like this got made. Exciting and scary, yes, but this is not a titillating, mindless propaganda film. The characters are complex people dealing with real feelings and issues and conflicting desires. It's risky in these times to try to put a human face on terrorism, but how can we fight something that we don't dare try to understand? This film is an honest attempt to find some possible answers to the questions, "How can they do this? Why?" And there are terrific performances in the film, particularly that of the would-be suicide bomber, played by Ayad Akhtar. Every American should see this film, and hopefully think and talk about it.

"the war within" is a wonderful and highly disturbing movie. it tells a gripping story, a thriller about whether or not a terrorist will be stopped. but there is much more to it. we have become so used to thinking of the world in terms of good and evil, of victims and culprits - and now here is a story that totally denies any of these comfortable categories. i follow a (brillantly acted) character through his obscure path to kill a great number of people. but there is no attempt to explain. i am confronted with a person that remains strangely fascinating and tangible enough to make me want to understand, but every time i feel like i am getting close to empathy, i fall back into the strangeness of an inner world i realize i don't know anything about. this is the kind of stories that need to be told now - in order to stop our hybrid fantasies of controlling the world. there is absolutely no strategy in dealing with despair.

I found The War Within to be a brave and refreshingly disturbing film that manages to veer away from the predictable at every point. Whether it is the protagonist's (Ayad Akhtar in a memorable debut) creepy proselytizing of a Muslim child under his care, his understated outburst in a community party organized by his assimilated buddy Sayeed (powerfully played by Firdous Bamji) or his cold rejection of the innocent advances of Sayeed's beguiling sister (Nandana Sen in a heartbreaking performance), the film never loses its taut control, nor its simmering emotionality. Kudos to the director, writer, and cinematographer for weaving together this wonderful yet horrible tale of confused, violent America.

"The War Within" is a nicely shot movie about the not so nice subject of terrorism. The experience is intense, to be sure, but not what I expected. I thought they would exploit terrorism - Hollywood style. Actually, the film gave me a lot to think about. In fact, after the film was over, it seemed like we all sat there for a long pause to think before the applause began. It was a well-rounded movie too. That appealed to me because it didn't seem like a propaganda film either. The actors were mostly people that I didn't recognize. Some of the performances, nevertheless, were unforgettable. This was especially true about the little boy and the lead actor. I think this movie will appeal to most people.

It is films like this that keep me coming back to the movies. If you pick up the newspaper in the morning and scan the front page then this is a film you should take the time to see. It is courageous, thoughtful and complex. This is a story well worth losing yourself in for a couple hours. Every so often I see what this craft can do to suspend belief systems and put us in the shoes of others. It's rare but this is one of them! Hassan and his close friend Sayeed bring humanity to ideas and conflicts we normally absorb through institutional filters (ie. our government or the news). This film reminds me of the way the New Yorker journalist Jon Lee Anderson covered the war in Iraq. He'd go and find people, go in to their home, understand the nuances of their lives and contextualize their relationship to the war. In The War Within, we follow Hassan into Sayeed's home and pray that their offering of warmth and love will give Hassan the lifeline he needs to wash away his pain and live a rich, full life.

This is not a date movie! This is deep, heady stuff meant for those times when you want a psychological thriller. It confronts one of our worst demons in a truly "fair and balanced" way except for one glaring exception I note in the next paragraph. It doesn't matter if you're an Al Qaeda member, a blue-state commie or a red state right-winger, you will probably think that the writers tried to put as much truth as they could pack into a 2 hour film. In the end, you gain better perspective on the mind of a terrorist without being burdened with a lot of Fox News like canards (e.g., "terrorists want to take our freedom"). The movie shows that the victims are often other Moslems taken in by friends, not just white Americans.

There are several reasons I couldn't give it a 10. The cinematography is only a bit better than amateur in several scenes. The aerial shots are hurky-jerky. The main character is obviously not a seasoned actor -- although he does return a decent performance. But, beyond that, I felt (and this is an opinion as a Westerner obviously) that the writers seem to imply that somehow America itself is to blame for the metamorphoses in the minds of these radicals. More specifically, the main character is portrayed as if he has become a monster because of the axis formed by US law enforcement and corrupt Middle Eastern governments. Take a person like John Walker Lindh as a counterexample. He grew up in a good home never beaten by police or subjected to torture and born to good parents and he still ended up fighting against "infidels." I think the writers should have been more thoughtful in this respect since terrorists aren't always made by American policy. Bin Laden is a rich Saudi with a good college education. He wasn't beaten or mistreated (at least not prior to becoming a terrorist). I think the writers should have at least explored how these mosques plant seeds of hate in the minds of good people although this film doesn't touch that with a 10 foot pole. And they didn't for reasons which were probably related to the political correctness of our times. But again, I speak as a Westerner who thinks that these madrasses are part of the problem. The film does a very good job in many other respects of getting into the heads of these guys.

Ralph