The Reluctant Fundamentalist

I decided to take a quick break from my Oscars marathon that I've sort of been on for the past few days and check out a movie that I had on my Netflix watch list. I do have some movies on there that I have created for my 2017 movie list and I don't want to put myself in the same situation I did last year where I was rushing to clear out that list... even though I probably will end up doing that near the end of the year.

I found The Reluctant Fundamentalist by looking up movies with Kiefer Sutherland. If you're not familiar with the blog, I am a fan of 24 and Kiefer Sutherland has been one of my favorite actors for a while since. While I had never heard of this movie, I wanted to check it out and see how it was. These were my thoughts.

The movie begins with the abduction of an American professor in Pakistan. The CIA is trying to find this professor and so is a journalist named Bobby Lincoln (played by Liev Schreiber).

Lincoln gets the opportunity to meet with a Pakistani Professor by the name of Changez Khan (played by Riz Ahmed). He is unsure if Khan had anything to do with the kidnapping of the American professor and he wants to interview him to figure out if he did or not.

What follows is Khan telling his story from when he graduated from college, got a job with a top Wall Street firm, and his experiences, living in the United States right after the events of 9/11.

Prior to the attack Changez gets a job with a Wallstreet firm under the mentorship of Jim Cross (played by Kiefer Sutherland). He is incredibly successful and eventually even meets and falls in love with a photographer by the name of Erica (played by Kate Hudson).

The Reluctant Fundamentalist follows Changez as he watches the world change and the way people look at him differently. The movie does a good job at setting up his life and the way that it was prior to the events of 9/11 and then watching it all change as Changez not only falls victim to Islamaphobia and racial profiling, but in reaction, falls back on his roots and starts denying the American ideals that are expected of him.

The interesting part of the movie and the part that I appreciated was that the movie never felt like it was too over the top and hyperbolic like some movies about prejudices can be. After 9/11, while there are some pretty extreme things said about Middle Easterns basically right in front of Changez, it's not like he loses his job because he's Arab. While some of the moments where he is racially profiled are a bit extreme, it all fits within the context of what was going on in the aftermath of 9/11.

And then there's the relationship between him and Erica which starts off pretty strong because she really does stand with him even after all the Islamaphobia sets in. Now I do think that the relationship between Changez and Erica does end eventually for silly reasons that only happened because they were necessary to the plot, but since that wasn't really the main purpose of the film, it was minute enough that it didn't matter as much.

The strongest part of this movie is watching how much this character changes because of multiple factors. 9/11 is part of it, and his responses to prejudice also changes his outlook on the rest of the world. And then he starts to embrace his heritage and his culture begins to show. When this transformation becomes more and more apparent and when it gets juxtaposed with who the character is in the 2011 when he's having the conversation with the reporter in Pakistan, you really do spend a lot of the movie wondering if Changez has been radicalized or if he's just opposed to American intervention in the Middle East.

The movie has a pretty great message about the radicalization of men in the Middle East due to the actions of the United States in the War on Terror and it's an interesting and non-pandering outlook on that issue.

Riz Ahmed is a name I've heard more and more these days and I really am starting to like what I'm seeing from him. He had great parts in both Nightcrawler and Rogue One and now I see him in this. There are a couple of other things I want to check him out in but he has really impressed me with everything that I've seen him in.

I talked a little bit about the relationship he has with Kate Hudson's character and that does make it a little bit difficult to say that Hudson did a good job in this film. I think it's interesting seeing her in a serious movie like this and not in a romantic comedy, but I'm not totally sure that she was the right choice for the role. I think they could have used someone different. Maybe it's because her character is also written well but I wasn't incredibly wild about Hudson's role in this movie at all.

Some of the other performances worth mentioning are that of Liev Schreiber and Kiefer Sutherland.

Both of them fit really well with the rest of the cast and the story of the film. They fit the film both when it has a flavor of a thriller and when it is supposed to be a drama. I think it's a little bit more on the drama side most of the time and both Sutherland and Schreiber bring great performances that support the main story that centers on Changez.

There are definitely a lot of slow moments in this movie. But I think the cast and the story really pull it along to a point that make you care about them. You are interested in seeing the progression of Changez Khan's story and you want to answer the question on if he eventually is radicalized or if he's just a defiant man.

I would say the only thing to improve on with this movie would be the relationship with Changez and Erica. I'm not sure Hudson was the right choice for the part but I would have either preferred her to be a bigger part in the film or not have her in the film at all. Either way I think that would have had a stronger effect.

If you want to check out a film with a different outlook on the war on terror and isn't your regular run of the mill story about terrorism and how it forms, The Reluctant Fundamentalist might be a good one to check out. I think it's a little bit of a hidden gem in the middle of Netflix's expanding selection.

But what do you think? Have you seen The Reluctant Fundamentalist? Let me know what you think. Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. I'm jumping right back on the Oscar train. I'm going to be reviewing Manchester by the Sea next. Here's the trailer. Enjoy!