Jon Stewart’s Rosewater is not the film his Daily Show fans will be expecting
REVIEW: Former host of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart, makes his directorial debut in the intriguing factual drama Rosewater.
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Rosewater (M)
Director: Jon Stewart (feature debut)
Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Kim Bodnia, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jason Jones.
Rating:***
Holding on to reason when held without reason
An unexpectedly muted factual drama marks the directorial debut of Jon Stewart, best known as the long-serving (and soon-to-be former) host of satirical TV news program The Daily Show.
Anyone searching for the faintest traces of Stewart’s trademark rabble-rousing brand of comedy won’t find what they’re after here.
Stewart grew a ferociously loyal following doing that one thing he does so well: looking the viewer straight in the eye, and telling it like it is.
Sometimes with great fury, but always with a comedic cleverness that excused any tendency towards the overbearing.
However, when it comes to Rosewater, it is clear that Stewart won’t be playing to his own proven strengths. Or using much of that famously sharp cynical mind.
This is going to peeve many who show up purely because their favourite funnyman’s name is on the poster.
Which is not to say Stewart hasn’t crafted a good movie. Far from it.
He explores the troubling true story of crusading Iranian-born journalist Maziar Bahari (Gael Garcia Bernal), imprisoned and interrogated at length while covering his homeland’s elections in 2009.
Like our own Peter Greste, Bahari was falsely accused of working covertly for enemy interests.
Oddly, Stewart’s The Daily Show played a role in prompting the unwarranted incarceration. Shortly before he was detained by Iranian authorities, Bahari had appeared in one of the program’s mock news stories on the coming election.
While many are going to feel the film is too restrained in light of Stewart’s reputation — Gael Garcia Bernal’s soft-spoken performance doesn’t really help on this front — its relevance cannot be doubted.
Originally published as Jon Stewart’s Rosewater is not the film his Daily Show fans will be expecting
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