Years after he left Damascus under suspicious circumstances, Adib Abdel Kareem must confront what he left behind when his daughter goes missing. Unknown to him, Syrian-Canadian Adib Abdul-Kareem's eldest daughter Muna, a photographer, has traveled to his homeland to find out more about her father, as he had never talked about his Syrian past to his family. He does learn about her travels only because she has gone missing in Damascus, most of her belongings still in her hotel room. Adib decides to head back to Damascus to find her, and enlists the help of his old girlfriend Fatima, a Canadian diplomat named Paul, and an old colleague Sayid to find Muna while he's in Damascus, some who seem to know more about Muna's disappearance than they initially let on to Adib. Adib does this all at his own personal risk as he used to work in the Syrian military secret service, and was convicted in absentia and sentenced to death for purportedly being an Israeli spy. Adib, who managed to get back into Syria on an illegal visa with Fatima's help, has to uncover why Muna has gone missing and if it has anything to do with his Syrian past. He also has to reconcile with Fatima, who long felt abandoned by Adib when he left the country thirty years ago. Adib Abdel Kareem (Alexander Siddig) lives a comfortable life in Toronto under an alternate identity. He has two daughters but has told them nothing about his past in Syria. He was a military intelligence officer but left under mysterious circumstances 20 years ago. His oldest daughter Muna has disappeared after going to Damascus behind his back. He sneaks back into the country with the help of ex-fiancée Fatima (Marisa Tomei). He talks to Canadian Embassy officer Paul Ridge (Joshua Jackson) and former fellow workmate Sayid (Oded Fehr) as he navigates the dangerous police state.<br/><br/>This movie seems to be caught between a realistic movie and a Bourne-like thriller. It fails as either and it struggles to be better. It's great to have Siddig as the lead. The problem is that I can't believe his character wouldn't be snatched up by any one of the random secret police agents. His supposed crime is too big to ignore. The daughter is too naive. It would have been more logical if she's researching in Turkey and gets kidnapped into Syria. Also having Tomei as an Arab does raise an eyebrow. A lot of little things limit the believability. It doesn't work as an action thriller either. It is terribly flat and has low intensity despite the exotic setting. The few action sequences seem weak and out of place. I would like a realistic take on the 2012 police-state Syria. I can't buy it here. Other reviews have touched on many of the flaws of this film. My review is specific to complaints regarding realism of this movie.<br/><br/>Having lived in Syria for over 3 years, I was a bit skeptical that this film could pull off any sense of authenticity, and my skepticism was apparently warranted. Aside from the typical pitfalls of movies set in the Middle East (actors that don't really speak comprehensible Arabic, for example), this film is deeply flawed in its portrayal of Syria both from an aesthetic standpoint and a socio-political standpoint.<br/><br/>1. I understand the importance of the plot in bringing to attention the fact that Syria is a police state, but this movie goes way over the top with the Syrian flags and posters and banners of Bashar al-Assad everywhere. Yeah, OK, they're not rare in Damascus… but they are not even remotely as common as this movie suggests. It is cartoonish in its portrayal. Oh, and they forgot the Ba'ath Party flags.<br/><br/>2. The extras in this film almost all look North African, not Syrian. Syrians tend to be much lighter in complexion. Just adds to the inauthentic feel.<br/><br/>3. Far too much traditional North African and Gulf dress than is seen in Damascus, where the vast majority of people dress in Western style clothes.<br/><br/>4. Syrian intelligence (mukhabarat) agents monitor foreigners through hotels. All hotel registries are collected daily, and anyone with a history like the main character supposedly had would have been greeted by intelligence agents promptly the next morning. He'd be monitored in his every action, if not immediately detained.<br/><br/>5. The guy who plays Sayid, the old friend, behaves nothing like any Syrian I've ever met. His mannerisms, gestures, way of speaking, everything… all wrong! Not a believable character at all. While I was watching the film I kept saying to myself, "this guy acts like an Israeli". Sure enough, I check IMDb, and he is Israeli…<br/><br/>6. The Syrian mukhabarat agents portrayed in this film act nothing like they do in real life. I have had more experience dealing with them than I should probably admit, and they act more like lazy bureaucrats than as the gangsters they're portrayed as.<br/><br/>7. Intelligence agents in Damascus did not need guns to intimidate people. They rarely carried them and, if they did, they were generally concealed. They don't point a gun at you and ask for your phone. They just ask for your phone, and you give it to them because you know better.<br/><br/>8. They aren't going ask for the Canadian ambassador's phone, though. And the Canadian ambassador isn't going to be assaulting them, either.<br/><br/>9. In my 3 years living in Damascus, I never saw the pipe bomb souq for the convenient purchase of PVC pipe, nails, and used mobile phones…<br/><br/>10. Why is this girl's body - killed as the result of an ordinary bus accident - stored in some sort of military complex? Syria does have normal morgues… they aren't guarded by military.<br/><br/>Also, there is no desert on the road between Amman and the Syrian border (the desert is south of Amman). And random armed men don't stop cars on that road to take bribes of alcohol, either!<br/><br/>At least there are like 4 clips totaling maybe 10 seconds of actual footage from Damascus. That was at least something redeeming about this movie.<br/><br/>If the writer/director spent any time in the Middle East in the past few decades, she should be embarrassed by her effort here. Honestly, my own experiences in Syria would make a more compelling story than this fiction… Inescapable isn't a terrible movie, but absent its ripped-from-the-headlines setting it's unremarkable.
Ensiglenn replied
372 weeks ago