The Reluctant Fundamentalist [Blu-Ray]

Director: Mira Nair

Cast: Riz Ahmed, Liev Schreiber, Kiefer Sutherland, Kate Hudson

Release Date: Now Available on Blu-Ray & DVD

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 9/10

Disc Rating: 8/10

Plot Summary:

A young Pakistani man is chasing corporate success on Wall Street. He finds himself embroiled in a conflict between his American Dream, a hostage crisis, and the enduring call of his family’s homeland.

‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ tells the tale of a Pakistani man named Changez (Riz Ahmed) who leaves his home country and ventures to America where he finds himself quickly climbing the corporate success ladder on wall street and finding himself easily at home in a world so unlike the one he grew up in and even falling in love with a beautiful woman (Kate Hudson). Then, once 9/11 occurs, everything changes for him. The film is told in the form of an interview that Changez is giving to a reporter named Bobby (Liev Schreiber) that details all of the events of his life, from the time he left for America, to the current moment where many suspect he is involved with kidnapping an American citizen.

The film is directed by Mira Nair, and stars Riz Ahmed in the lead role in which he portrays brilliantly. Liev Schreiber, Kate Hudson and Keifer Sutherland also star in the film, and the performances all around are powerful, convincing and overall pretty terrific. While I am personally a huge fan of Liev Schreiber and find him to be one of the best actors working today, I must admit that while he was amazing as always, Riz Ahmed really steals the show here with such an outstanding performance.

‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ is a powerful, gripping and moving film that shows what so many dealt with in a time of horror, and while so many decided to hate an entire culture based on the acts of one group, most of us don’t really have any idea what the innocent members of that culture had to endure and lose simply because of the hate and unjustified conclusions of many. I almost feel that this film should be required viewing for all Americans, but I know plenty will chime in and start a silly internet argument utilizing all kinds of preposterous reasons as to why this film was flawed or wrong. I personally felt it gave a truly unique look at what occurred to a great many people who truly didn’t deserve such unfair treatment. I certainly don’t wish to debate politics here, so let me just say that this is a tremendous film, and in my opinion one of the most powerful films I’ve seen in quite some time and I would highly recommend checking it out.

VIDEO:

The Blu-Ray release of ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.40:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio and is once again a sharp, detailed and very impressive looking video transfer from IFC & MPI. Everything seems to be smooth and properly mastered. No issues could be found with the video presentation on my end and it should have most pleased.

AUDIO:

The Blu-Ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. While in a film like this, not too many opportunities are presented in which to fully utilize the lossless soundtrack, in the moments where action or music is present and maximized, the soundtrack can really pack a nice little punch. Most should be pleased with this DTS-HD soundtrack. The release also includes a lossless English stereo soundtrack, in addition to English SDH & Spanish subtitles.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Not a whole lot is present in the way of special features on this release, but in addition to the trailer there is a nice 30 minute Making of Featurette that those who enjoyed the film may want to check out.

Film Rating: 9/10

Disc Rating: 8/10

‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ is now available to own on Blu-Ray & DVD from IFC & MPI.