The War Within - movie reviews and information

Meet the terrorist next-door in 'The War Within'
by Hap Erstein

Like Paradise Now before it, The War Within attempts the difficult task of trying to dramatize and understand what turns someone into a suicide bomber. Although that "why" remains elusive — beyond the too-simple explanation of imprisonment and abusive interrogation turning a Pakistani engineering student into a terrorist — this fiction film is a gripping, all-too-plausible depiction of how vulnerable we remain to an attack. Read the full review

TO SUM UP
A Pakistani student in Paris is arrested for suspected terrorist activities. After his interrogation and three years of confinement in Karachi, Hassan joins a terrorist plot to bomb New York's Grand Central Station.

FILM FACTS ...

Magnolia Pictures

'The War Within'

Director: Joseph Castelo
Starring: Ayad Stehle-Akhtar, Samrat Chakrabarti, Aasif Mandvi, Kamal Marayati, Mike McGlone
Run time: 119 minutes
Release date: Sept. 30, 2005
Rating: Not rated; includes violence, mature themes.

READ THE REVIEW

The Palm Beach Post: B
"Akhtar puts a gentle, soft-spoken face on terrorism with a performance that is most chilling for its lack of histrionics."