Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

David Stever The weak link of this otherwise pretty good movie is Ryan Phillipe His character is kidnapped and being held captive, and during that captivity, he is the victim of torture, and while we're shown some pretty damned convincing torture during this movie, Mr. Phillipe is totally unconvincing as the victim of this torture.The crew that is doing this torture are absolutely great- they are actually good actors, and their actions reflect the complexity of their roles and their corresponding abilities as actors. On the other hand, watching Ryan Phillipe in this is like watching Rob Schneider attempting drama, and that would definitely not be for the faint of heart.

jameszhang68 Ending is as awful as it can get. Perhaps, in the end, the poor guy cant think straight and sees no way out and just wants to end his life. Here is the deal. He has many OUTS.For example:They can use this scheme: One tells the first letter and the other tells the last letter. It is 1/28 odds to be right. To be more certain, they can tell each other the 2nd and the 2nd from the end. It would be impossible for anyone to fake it. Easy way out!I feel being intellectually cheated after 2 hrs on this crap.

aGuiltySoul 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.

JoeytheBrit This is one of those films that, given its single location and duel of wits between the two leads, simply cries out that there is a twist coming. When it comes, in the final five minutes, it does so having announced its imminent arrival somewhere between two minutes and 30 seconds before it actually turns up and so, to a degree, it fails. Having said that, prior to the sudden, almost inexplicable, shifts in attitude of the three main players, the film proves to be quite an intriguing tale of torture and deception that reveals its secrets in a coolly measured manner that successfully manages to reverse the viewers' near-automatic labelling of its protagonists. In this respect, at least, the film undoubtedly succeeds.Ryan Philippe, Laurence Fishburne and Colm Meaney are all given the opportunity to try on unfamiliar accents with varying degrees of success. Philippe comes off third best, but at least his effort is one that becomes less irritating as the film progresses. Considering the bulk of the story takes place in one location the film does well to prevent the viewer's mind from wondering, which is just as well considering some of the plot holes a small amount of reflection throws up. Perhaps the most unlikely development is the schoolboy trick with which Fishburne finally manages to obtain the information he wants. Philippe has withstood the amputation of all the digits from one hand, adroitly sidestepped all the more sophisticated techniques Fishburne & Co. have employed in their attempts to deceive him, but doesn't have the sense to at least have Fishburne write down just the Christian names to ensure he isn't bluffing? I can't see it somehow. And the idea of a terrorist plot to poison the world's fast food produce, while terrifying when first revealed, quickly becomes too problematic to stand up to scrutiny. Such a plot would require a level of logistical planning and strategy that makes the orchestrated bombing of the World Trade Centre seem positively simple in comparison.Despite these gripes, the film does manage to keep you intrigued long enough to see it through to the end – and the way that the viewer's point of view is manipulated by writers Chad Thumann and Laurence Malkin (who also directed) is extremely well done.