The War Within
By Peter Relic
The extradition and torture of Pakistani engineer Hassan (cowriter Ayad Akhtar) sets in motion his transformation into the very thing he was not: a terrorist. While driving a cab and living in the family home of an old friend in New Jersey, Hassan follows the orders of a cell ringleader who rationalizes his own women-and-drink debauchery: "It's good to taste the freedom that will destroy them." This searing depiction of our seemingly endless "war on terror" hits home in every sense.
(Posted February 23, 2006)