Infidel

The fact this is a film with an agenda ... doesn't make what it has to say untrue.

If you go to Cairo as a high-profile Christian blogger ... and effectively "preach Christianity" to a massive TV audience of diehard Muslims ... don't be surprised when your life suddenly takes a rapid turn for the worse. LOL.

Having said that, this is a film worth watching, not so much for the mains (turning in occasionally hammy or contrived performances), but for the concept overall, and particularly the performances of supporting characters such as "Ramzi."

The harshness and lawlessness of the Middle-East felt real (if a little cliched in places) ... but you are left in no doubt as to the eternal divides which exist between the (primarily) Judeo-Christian culture of the West ... and its counterparts of radical Islam elsewhere.

In short, if these themes interest you ... the film is worth checking out.

Caviezel is a Christian blogger that gets kidnapped in Iran. Probably not a favorite movie for the left, but a decently told tale of faith and rescue.

Well acted and directed. Caviezel plays Doug Rawlins who travels to Iran to attend a forum where he unequivocally expresses his commitment to Christianity on Iranian TV which leads to his imprisonment and torture. Gut wrenching torture scenes and exciting action sequences balanced by moving intimate scenes between the Rawlins make this a worthy watch.

The beginning of the film is a bit choppy but the narrative is much smoother when the story transitions to Iran and Lebanon.

I find it bizarre that so many reviewers of this movie have either given it a 10 or <3. The movie deserves none of these (extreme) ratings. It's a solid Middle East thriller that doesn't seem to be too far fetched given what's gone on in that part of the world over the past few decades. However, it's certainly no classic yet, it still kept me interested.

I'm lead to understand the budget was on the low side so for what its worth, I think the quality of cinematography was good as well.

Give it a watch...

The Reason for the Skewed IMDB Rating: First, the rating is skewed because it was produced by Dinesh D'Souza, enemy of the State and those the State has under their spell.

The Christianity Part: I use to be a militant atheist, and would have given this 1 star in the old days just because the protagonist is Christian. Now, I'm a thousand times more accepting, and appreciate the many things we agree on. But it really doesn't matter so much here because there's very little religion anyway.

(You DO NOT have to be Christian to appreciate this film)

My Favorite Thing: The bad guy!!!! He's so freaking good. He's right up there with my favorite bad guys of all time (Die Hard, No Country for Old Men, Drive).

Budget and Acting: I am always concerned about these two things with non-Holywood films, but the production value and acting are excellent. The lead, James Caviezel, is consistently good in everything I've seen him in, and everyone else holds their own. No one took me out of it for a second. Again, the bad guy though.

Only Small Issue: There were a couple minor shortcomings in the action, but like I said, minor. You may not even notice them. I've seen so much action that I've become very difficult to please in that area, and this was still more than good enough.

Overall: Not many movies can keep my attention anymore, and with one exception of checking my phone, I was rapt the entire time (that says a lot).

Very glad I came across this film. Off to find out what else the bad guy is in.

P. S. Even though it says 2019, I'm pretty sure this came out September, 2020.