Chasing Freedom

This was a fictionalized, but based on true events, account of a hard edged young corporate lawyer (Juliette Lewis, very good in an atypical role) taking the responsibility to defend an asylum seeker from Afghanistan. Movies like this at times too often focus on the star, but there are enough scenes about the asylum seeker's life back in Afghanistan and struggles in detention that it was overall a balanced account. The newcomer playing the asylum seeker was not very expressive at times, but was very good too.

A touching, heartfelt movie that has a predictable message, but is well put together and not just your average movie of the week sort of movie. We even have some sympathy for the government, in theory one of the heavies of the movie, suggesting the balance provided. The Taliban doesn't come off well though ... no shock there! For instance, a major plot point is the need for proof of identity, which on its face doesn't really seem to be that unjust for the government to be concerned about. Court TV did a good job with this one.

Layla Alizada plays an Afgan who seeks to escape the clutches of the Taliban before the 9-11 terrorist attacks. She crosses the Afgan/Pakistan border, and flies to the USA. She arrives at the JFK airport and seeks political asylum without having a passport, entry visa, money, or any local contacts. If a federal judge orders her deported, it will mean certain death. Juliette Lewis plays a major league hot shot corporate lawyer who takes the case pro bono as a favor to her boss.

CHASING FREEDOM has many shining points. Although filmed in Canada, the Afgan scenes have high realism. The dramatic music sets the right tone but does not overpower. Layla Alizada does fine in her first major role. The entire film hinges upon the audience caring about Layla Alizada's character. Fortunately, the film succeeds in accomplishing this.

Unfortunately, Juliette Lewis is miscast. She does not have the gravitas to play a major league New York City lawyer. Also, emotional, stressed out New Yorkers speak very, very, very quickly. Juliette Lewis invariably speaks very slow. She never speaks fast no matter what urgent matter confronts her character. The courtroom scenes are the weakest moments of the film.

CHASING FREEDOM mistakenly regards the 9-11 terrorists as if they were Afgans, when in fact they were really Saudi nationals. However, CHASING FREEDOM does well to capture some of the brutality of the Taliban towards Afgan women. CHASING FREEDOM was produced by the COURT TV network. It is a barely passable view, which makes it above average for the made-for-TV genre.

Enough has been said about the quality of the acting in this film so I won't add to that other than to say that it doesn't bother me if an actress portraying a New Yorker under stress doesn't talk very, very very fast - I'd rather be able to understand her lines! I just wanted to say that those who think that the inhumanity of the INS service or the lack of compassion of the officers and judges was overplayed have never been inside an immigration courtroom or had any dealings with the immigration service. In that respect the film was depressingly accurate. It saddens me that in the quest to 'protect' ourselves from those without legitimate requests for asylum, we have to treat everyone so appallingly, with representation that barely passes any reasonable competency test, as if the majority of asylees haven't suffered enough. Asylum seekers have, more often than not, barely escaped from their countries with their lives and the clothes on their back and they get treated like criminals. Some would say that it's shameful.

I'm just sorry that this film didn't make theatres and isn't required viewing for the general public.

This taut and important film CHASING FREEDOM was apparently a made for television film in 2004. It is a shame it never made it into the theaters as it is a searing document about the problems of victims from foreign countries seeking asylum in the United States. The script by Barbara Samuels is a brave indictment against the Taliban's activities in Afghanistan as well as a penetrating examination of US bureaucratic bungling in dealing with those who get caught up in the quagmire of red tape in trying to find an escape hatch from their homeland cruelty. It is an honest look at a problem, unbiased, where none of the parties are blameless.

A member of a high profile New York law firm, Libby (Juliette Lewis) is told by her boss that despite her overtaxed workload as a securities lawyer she must by contract take on some pro bono work (as much to make her boss look good as to keep a law firm's reputation spotless). Libby begrudgingly takes on a pro bono case in the department closest to her office - the INS where kind and desperate Eric (Brian Markinson) pleads with her to represent a woman seeking asylum. Libby has a negative attitude toward the process, as much because she knows nothing about asylum cases in law as the fact that she is doing this under duress. Eric introduces her to her client Meena (Layla Alizada) who has fled Afghanistan to escape death because she dared to teach children in Kabul despite the Taliban's condemnation of schools. Gradually the harden Libby discovers the life story of Meena and softens to her cause, devoting herself to achieving the impossible - obtaining asylum for a woman who has no proof of identity and is 'detained' in a brusque INS center like a prisoner.

Though Meena arrived in the US in 2000, by the time her case is extended it is 2001 - and 9/11 has happened, an incident that placed Afghanistan in a bad light. The manner in which Libby works with Meena to gain her flight to freedom is a well-paced, gripping, startling tale - and this is based on a true story.

Juliette Lewis again demonstrates the scope of her talent by convincingly transforming the hard, workaholic lawyer into the compassionate believer in human rights and she is able to make this character development with being cloying or stereotyped. It is a fine performance in a role not of the usual Lewis type. Equally excellent is Layla Alizada, wholly believable as a woman who has endured atrocities only to enter a land that seems cold to her plea for asylum. The two actresses make a fine team. The remainder of the cast is superb and the direction by Don McBrearty is on target. There is a hauntingly beautiful music score by Jonathan Goldsmith the weaves Middle Eastern and Western music into a lush, additive and atmospheric score. This film deserves attention, especially today when our borders are even more blockaded. It is wise to remember the individuals caught up in the problem of seeking asylum. Grady Harp

Chasing Freedom couldn't have been better named. The story is about a woman from Afghanistan who fled the oppression of the Taliban, seeking a life of freedom in America. Layla Alizada plays Meena, a woman forced to leave college when the Taliban take over. Neighborhood women come to her, looking for a teacher to help them learn how to read and write. When the Taliban learn of this, Meena is beaten and her brother thrown in jail for allowing females in his home for the purposes of education. When the Taliban decides they want more from Meena she decides to try and escape. With all the checkpoints she must pass, she destroys her identity papers and escapes to America. Once in America Meena finds out it isn't that easy gaining freedom in America if you can't prove who you are. This movie based on true facts shows the due process one must go through when coming to America and how the government agencies protect the homeland yet allow the oppressed a chance at life. This movie is very well done. For those who care about people, prepare to feel anger and tears. This movie will grip your heart and move you in ways other movies only dream of.