The Reluctant Fundamentalist, a film that is seemingly about the radicalization of a “westernized” Muslim against his adopted country, is certainly timely. After all, following the Boston Marathon bombing, many Americans asked, “How could “Americanized” citizens commit such a horrific crime?” However, due to the scattered plot and the inability to connect with the main character, I left the theater feeling more disappointed than enlightened. In all honesty, I’m still confused about what happened in the third act. Either that, or I was too bored to care.
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The “reluctant fundamentalist” in this film is Changez Khan (Riz Ahmed), a Pakistani man who moves to the United States in the late 1990s to attend college. In the film’s present day, however, he is back in Lahore, Pakistan, teaching controversial (bordering on Anti-American) issues in a University. When an American professor is kidnapped, suspicious eyes fall on Changez and his students. In an effort to mitigate the situation, Changez decides to meet with American reporter Bobby Lincoln (Liev Schreiber). Using an annoyingly clichéd plot device, Changez tells the story of his adult life to Lincoln in flashbacks, asking him to hold his judgment until the end of the story.
Through these flashbacks, we learn that after college, Changez took a job on Wall Street at a top financial firm, Underwood-Sampson. His cunning, at times ruthless, business skills quickly catch the eye of his boss (Kiefer Sutherland), which helps Changez rise through the ranks and become an associate at the firm. When Changez meets and falls in love with Erica (Kate Hudson), everything in his life appears to be going right. That is, until the events of 9/11 change everything.
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This is where the movie loses me. Throughout the film I didn’t find Changez to be a particularly likeable character. He comes off as self-absorbed and shallow, taking a job that requires him to fire people from companies to increase profit (think George Clooney in Up In The Air). After 9/11, however, the film wants you to feel sorry for Changez by showing a divergence from his American identity. The problem, however, is that the filmmaker never makes it completely obvious what caused this fundamental change. Was it the few instances we see of racial discrimination? A film about racial discrimination following 9/11 would make for an interesting movie, however, in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, it just didn’t work. Mostly because the discrimination, at times, didn’t seem to be discrimination at all and was merely payback for the outcome of an insensitive job. For example, when Changez is called “Osama” by a man in Georgia, it seemed to be less about his ethnicity and more about the fact he just fired so many people.
Even though I disliked the storyline, I did enjoy Ahmed’s performance in the film. He is a great actor and did the best he could to make his character interesting. I only wish we could have seen more of his relatable side. The other standout in the film was the perfectly cast Kiefer Sutherland. He brings his Jack Bower furrowed brow to many scenes and was completely believable in the role. Warning, if you’re a Kate Hudson fan, I wouldn’t see this movie just because she’s in it. Unfortunately, her role is poorly written, one-dimensional and at times annoying. Her role could have easily been cut to make the film a little shorter.
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Although The Reluctant Fundamentalist had the potential to be great, it flounders pretty quickly, and ultimately crashes and burns in the third act. It’s never a good thing when you come out of a movie and can’t quite grasp what you just watched, nor do you care to try to analyze it with friends. If you’re looking for a drama to see this weekend, check out The Impossible (available on Netflix, RedBox, and On Demand) instead.
My Review: D+
The Reluctant Fundamentalist Trailer
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