Skunkyrate Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Lucia Ayala It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

satyawan shekhawat Two kinds of people have reviewed the film: one, Americans, who for the fear of being tagged racists voiced their anger over some issues. and two, native iranians, who obviously were hurt for being shown as near monsters. i being a right minded 3rd person saw the movie with an empty mind and found it to be a hardhitting, well crafted movie. i don't know whether the facts are "embellished" as some claim. i don't know if there was any kind of exaggeration or generalisation and i have no means to be sure. but what i saw was an example of brilliant cinema. sally field was flawless. and so were other actors. it hurts me to see the negative response to the movie which i believe is because of the reservations in peoples mind. the screenplay i believe was great too. AND I AS A REASONABLE PERSON COULD BELIEVE IT TO BE TRUE...about that one family, not about the whole country. even the film never showed all iranians as bad. even the husband was not all satanic all the time. i have nothing against them. but i know of occurrence of such incidents. in fact a similar film "khuda ke liye" was made in Pakistan and it was hailed as a great movie. in my country too these things happen in the more conservative societies-exactly the same way. it was a good movie if we look at it objectively is all i wanna say.

minamelandme Just another one of the biggest lies of History In the the name of the same God that the very producers of such movies in holly wood try to make him forgotten It is really easy to sit back & accept whatever lies they feed us in movies & not even giving the people of the nations being slandered by holly wood producers,the benefit of the doubt.This is not the first nor the last time that we see such movies drag not one,not 10 but millions of ppl's names through the mud just by making a movie most of which are made in the name of Comedies,the others dramas "based on truth".America's policy towards Iran & the middle east is obvious & its media tries to leave the same impression in public minds by showing the middle eastern ppl as a Neanderthal generation,violent with no culture or civilization. if they wanna let ppl know the truth why don't they tell them about the plans made by them & Betty -who is a member of CIA -several years before marrying Dr.Mahmud?Alice Sharif ,one of Betty's friends that also married an Iranian & now lives a happy ,rich life in Iran says"She betrayed all of us because we had a great life in Iran & were financially Supported by our educated husbands".The lies shown in this movie simply didn't include the cruelty of such a she-beast who prevented a compassionate father from seeing his only daughter ;a great unrecoverable sorrow that eventually lead to his death! Before judgment hear both sides of the argument,if you believe in Justice

n-mo This film has received a great deal of flak for its treatment of Dr. Mahamoody, of Iran and indeed, of Islam itself. Yet it must be acknowledged that this is the reality of life in Iran as well as other countries operating under strict Islamic law (c.f. Saudi Arabia): women cannot so much as board a plane or check into a hotel without their husbands' permission, children are in the custody of the father and the family will do as he says.The postmodernist is occasionally willing to admit this, but quick to point out all of the supposed past and present faults of Christian and Occidental civilisation. To this end, the filmmakers (I am not familiar with the book) have done an excellent job avoiding either explicit Christian traditionalism or liberal feminism in depicting Betty's struggle. It could well be read as Christianity versus Islam: notice the large crucifix conspicuously dangling from her neck, and the implication that Betty would never truly consider converting; it is also implied that Betty has raised her daughter a Christian and resists any notion of conversion. On the other hand, it could be read as modernism and feminism versus fundamentalist religion: Betty is shocked that she cannot simply come and go as she pleases, and with her child. (I lean toward the former interpretation, though my reasons for thinking so would take up too much space.)Further, the people who helped Betty escape Iran included Iranians. It is true that these Iranians were depicted as sincere Amerophiles, but let us ask, honestly: what other type of Iranian would help an American escape from her Iranian husband? Moreover, the movie depicts the local Iranian women as genuinely wishing to help Betty adjust: this could well be read as an acknowledgement that the mentality in Iran is quite different than Betty's or any Occidental's.True, the film is centered around Betty and any value judgments would tend to lean toward her side, but in my mind this is a film that cleverly avoids explicit value judgments and tends toward the problem of culture clash. Whatever one thinks about religion or cultural relativism, the fact is that people ARE different, however many similarities one may find, and this has practical consequences. Moreover, the depiction of Moody as swinging from moderate to radical is based on Betty's real memories and should not be discounted. This is one woman's story; the reader is invited to draw his own conclusion.

pahaake I'm sorry that some people feel that a true story is some sort of Iran bashing. I'm also sorry that so many middle eastern countries are primitive and have little respect for women or their right to equality.Sally Field did a great job in this movie, and yes since it's a true story - it actually happened - how about that? Yes it made me hate Moody and his family - and why not it portrayed their evil. And evil is exactly what they were so the movie did exactly what it should have. I think this movie is another great insight as to what goes on in the middle east and certainly doesn't deserve any of the criticism found in these forums.