Review of Not Without My Daughter - by Ian Phillips: 8.5/10

Adapted from the book of the same name by Betty Mahmoody, the film was directed by Brian Gilbert, screenplay written by David W. Rintels, and filming locations ranged from Ankara, Turkey, Neve Ilan, Israel, and in Atlanta, Georgia. It's a thoroughly well-acted, very absorbing drama, shrewdly evoking the central character's escalating nightmare as she comes to terms with being held hostage by her husband and being totally powerless to do anything about it.

What alarms me more than anything is that, despite a number of reviews praising the film, one reviewer stated "Sally Field displays a lot of over-heated anguish". Is that person for real? I think the viewer is sympathetic to her ploy, as she was fooled into visiting Iran, and then was forced to conform to their culture, which is very primitive when it comes to women. Field has many scenes where she is able to show off her acting abilities and her performance never once shrinks, delivering a powerful turn, as does Alfred Molina in the less-sympathetic role.

There is a beautiful performance from a very young and gifted Sheila Rosenthal as their young daughter, Mahtob, and displays acting abilities that are incredible for her age. Inevitably, this situation she and her mother find themselves in, affects her the most being just a six-year-old girl.

I won't reveal the ending, but I can certainly say it is intense, very edgy, nail-biting stuff, which makes you incredibly nervous, and it's very well-drawn out.

Unfortunately, the film ended up being largely criticised by Iranians, who saw it as another attempt by America to shame their culture. Many critics stated it had a hidden agenda. This is simply not true. The real-life Betty Mahmoody acted as a consultant on the film, to ensure accuracy, and it is made more than clear that she saw Islam as having great beauty in it; it was just the excessively oppressive system to women she could not adapt to.
Some accused this film of showing all Muslims as monsters. Now, I can see why this film could be used as racist propaganda, but, I also didn't see it this way. It was telling a true story, no more, no less. For instance, without giving too much away, it is actually a group of Muslims that aid Betty in her daring escape plan; the same penalty would be handed out to these Muslims if they were caught helping her - death! Some of the Muslims in the film are shown to be warm and very gracious, so I don't believe there was any hidden agenda here. If there WAS then all I can say is wherever the eyes of the filmmakers may have been, the heart of its stars were definitely in the right place.

I also find it hard to believe that despite the harrowing tone of the film, those same critics that were mocking it stated that it is no more than an over-sensationlised, Lifetime-type TV movie; grossly inaccurate. This is far from some glossy, shallow melodrama. Yet, those with a rather closed-mind may view this as the be-all and end-all to life in Iran, which I don't believe it sets out to do.

The incidental music accompanying many of the scenes was also criticised by some, though I personally felt it helped create the intended atmosphere and tone, as well as enhance the edge of the story.

Ian Phillips