Five Fingers

Despite Ryan Phillipe's awful accent (as Martijn), the movie does a good job pulling you into the world they create. It is, as advertised, a "psychological thriller" and a bit of a mystery as you watch it unfold and slowly flashbacks illuminate the present situation.

Laurence Fishburne is EXCELLENT and makes the movie. Phillipe does a good job and although other characters play pivotal roles, it is really about the two of them.

Most of the film is shot in the same location, but it never gets boring or drags and keeps a lot of tension in most of the scenes. A real psychological treat if you just enjoy it! Not the best movie, but certainly a solid piece of entertainment that gets you to look at things from a slightly different perspective than most treatments of the subject of 'terrorism'.

This is a tense psychological drama. A Dutch banker travels to Morocco to set up a food program at the behest of his Moroccan girlfriend. He is kidnapped by a group of extremists who hold him captive and ultimately torture him for information. But who, we wind up asking, is ultimately who? And what truly are everyone's motives? It's a tough film to watch as it deals not only with terrorism and our assumptions about terrorists but also with the challenging topic of torture as a means of obtaining information.

The best parts of the film involve the intense dialogs between the three main characters of the captive, Martijn (Ryan Phillippe), the captor, Ahmat (Laurence Fishburne), and the captor's accomplice, Aicha (Gina Torres). These three actors' performances are outstandingly authentic and riveting. There's no question that if you love to see actors at the top of their game that you shouldn't miss this film. Ryan Phillippe's role as Martijn, however, is the most demanding and he never falters. As the focus character, Ryan's performance creates an incredibly intelligent and complex character.

But this, nevertheless, is a flawed film. It sometimes stumbles over itself. There seems to be some serious issues with editing and pacing. That's too bad. But this is still definitely worth watching if you can handle it's frank look at modern man's sojourn into primitive behavior.

"Five Fingers" is a great psychological thriller, which takes place mainly inside a torture room. The story is about Martijn (Phillipe), a young Dutch idealist who goes to Morocco to finance a food program from money he has embezzled; his cause is encouraged by his Moroccan girlfriend, Saadia (Haoud). However, as soon as he reaches Rabat, he gets abducted by a terrorist group, led by a dark character played by Lawrence Fishburne, who believes that Martijn has come there with a sinister purpose. They interrogate him harshly, and although in the beginning he tries to explain his mission, he subsequently decides to change his story. What is the truth, then?

Malkin provides us with a carefully crafted claustrophobic setting, with the tension gradually building up as the abductors play cat and mouse with Martijn. In this theatrical atmosphere, all actors give good performances, and are even moderately successful in applying their respective accents (Dutch, Arabic).

However, the best thing of all is the clever ending, which of course I am not going to reveal here. From that alone, the film deserves an 8/10.

I came to this movie not knowing much about the plot apart from the basic tag line. What a surprise then that this movie has turned out to be such an informative and very realistic exposition of how the use of terror and torture is utilised in todays world.

Fishburne and Phillipe as the two main characters locked in a battle of mind and will power turn in an excellent performance, as do the supporting characters. The story starts swiftly and almost from the beginning the tension is notched up, and with each twist and turn the movie continues to question who really is the good guy in all of this, if indeed there could be one. In fact this movie, if watched with an open mind can dispel so many stereotypical views about Muslims, the war on terror and what governments and organisations are doing in its name. At the very least its a great social commentary and talking point on the use of rendition and torture and its lack of moral standing in a so called civilised world.

In closing, one can say that the movie literally sucks the viewer in to the drama and never lets go until the credits are rolling. By this time you are bound to be left with very interesting questions, the answers for which are quite literally open ended. Even with all the tension created this movie never loses sight of the political commentary and therefore makes this a thinking persons Hostel or Saw. Well worth watching!

the line between good and evil. the war. in all its forms. the appearances. and the deep roots of the story in our contemporary every day reality. few motifs for define this film as special. for the inspired grow up of story. for performances. for ambiguity who gives, at the end, an impressive revelation. for the atmosphere of play. for the states of Matjin who reflects the fears of us. for the cold verdict. and, sure, for violence who is not more than convincing spice for a film who could be a warning or just precise reflection of reality.