Sidney Lumet has made some historical movies: "12 Angry Men," "Serpico," "Dog Day Afternoon," "Network," and "Prince of the City," so it was a no-brainer for me about whether or not I was going to watch "Strip Search."
Out of deference to Sidney Lumet, I don't want to call it a fail, because it wasn't. I didn't like it as much as I wanted, but it's not a fail. I totally understood the point of it and the message behind it even if I didn't like the production.
"Strip Search" openly aims to make you understand that giving up your civil liberties, even in the name of fighting terrorism, can lead to a repressive government. There are two main characters, an American woman in China (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and an Arab man in the U.S (Bruno Lastra). The two have been grabbed by law enforcement officers of the respective countries and the two go through an identical interrogation process. There's no denying the fact the writer, Tom Fontana, chose one of the world's freest countries and one of the world's most repressive countries for comparison for a reason. In the name of fighting terror, America and China end up looking alike.
Before the two ex-patriates are taken we see a class going on in which the teacher asks: "If the U.S. government said they could eliminate terrorism forever, would you give up your civil liberties for a day?" All of the class answered yes. "A week?" Again, they all said yes. "A month? A year? Forever?" And with each extension of time the yesses were fewer and fewer until there were no more. It's a powerful question that requires more and more thought, but the point was made: there's definitely a point in which civil liberties outweigh "safety."
The tone of the movie was a bit muted which took away from any intensity. There was no musical score and the two "suspects" were, for the most part, acquiescent. Though they asked questions and showed a little defiance, there was no real resistance from either of them as you'd expect from an innocent person who's been falsely accused. The capitulating was probably because they were visitors trying to avoid the wrath of a foreign government, although I think even a Chinese citizen would be just as compliant. What you end of having with "Strip Search" is a movie with a poignant message and an anemic delivery.
Out of deference to Sidney Lumet, I don't want to call it a fail, because it wasn't. I didn't like it as much as I wanted, but it's not a fail. I totally understood the point of it and the message behind it even if I didn't like the production.
"Strip Search" openly aims to make you understand that giving up your civil liberties, even in the name of fighting terrorism, can lead to a repressive government. There are two main characters, an American woman in China (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and an Arab man in the U.S (Bruno Lastra). The two have been grabbed by law enforcement officers of the respective countries and the two go through an identical interrogation process. There's no denying the fact the writer, Tom Fontana, chose one of the world's freest countries and one of the world's most repressive countries for comparison for a reason. In the name of fighting terror, America and China end up looking alike.
Before the two ex-patriates are taken we see a class going on in which the teacher asks: "If the U.S. government said they could eliminate terrorism forever, would you give up your civil liberties for a day?" All of the class answered yes. "A week?" Again, they all said yes. "A month? A year? Forever?" And with each extension of time the yesses were fewer and fewer until there were no more. It's a powerful question that requires more and more thought, but the point was made: there's definitely a point in which civil liberties outweigh "safety."
The tone of the movie was a bit muted which took away from any intensity. There was no musical score and the two "suspects" were, for the most part, acquiescent. Though they asked questions and showed a little defiance, there was no real resistance from either of them as you'd expect from an innocent person who's been falsely accused. The capitulating was probably because they were visitors trying to avoid the wrath of a foreign government, although I think even a Chinese citizen would be just as compliant. What you end of having with "Strip Search" is a movie with a poignant message and an anemic delivery.