Review: ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’

A few years ago there was a gritty little British drama called Shifty. It starred a then-unknown Riz Ahmed, and even then I thought he was an actor to keep an eye on. Here he plays Changez, a Pakistani in New York, living the American dream. He’s a Princeton graduate, has a great job on Wall Street and is engaged to a gorgeous artist.

Then 9/11 happens and Changez’s life takes a sinister twist. Suddenly he’s the enemy and has to fight suspicion and racial prejudice at every turn. He travels back to Pakistan and takes a job as a professor at a Lahore university, questioning whether there is a Pakistani dream as well as an American one.

The framing story involving an American journalist is not as compelling or as well presented as Changez’s own story and the drama in it feels a little forced. But if you can overlook that, this is a powerful, challenging film about manipulation and assumptions. Director Mira Nair draws us into her net and shows us how images can be manipulated to present what we want to see – making her point that nothing is what it seems and that there is no single truth.

It’s a film that poses difficult questions about out perceptions of East and West. For those willing to confront their pre-conceptions, this is a rewarding ride.

7.5/10

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