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Rosewater: Jon Stewart Provides Articulate Vision for a Larger Conversation

By Jameson Brown · November 14, 2014

The Daily Show host Jon Stewart is a man filled to the brim with comedic relief and wit that surpass other runners in the evening show race. He provides a fourth dimensional parody on the day's news and any jesters in that roundup that stand out, typically in "not so great" ways. Naturally, at first trailer viewing, it is hard to digest Rosewater's subject matter paired with Stewart's achingly sharp tongue. But his feature screenwriting and directorial debut machetes a new path for his career, but more so, the conversation on how we view Iran. 

https://youtube.com/watch?v=GGOYHIqmmiM%26nbsp%3B

The timely Rosewater finds Maziar Bahari (a journo for Newsweek) revisiting Iran covering the 2009 elections and, in response to his "accomplices" and media credentials, is detained by authorities for interrogation. The first fourth of our story shows off the warm colors of Iran, both through environment and human spirit, but once Maziar is detained, so are we. We are held face first to a slow burn of cracked mental sanity and absurd paranoia – two characteristics that are shown to be second nature to the underbelly of close-minded Iranian officials. Stewart juxtaposes this underbelly with the free spirit, humor and determination of Maziar – fighting day and night to keep his mind outside the walls his body stands within. 

Stewart, originally only contacted to produce, decided to helm the project, as it was a personal story that added to a much larger conversation about how we view Iran. Both Maziar and Stewart want us to understand that there are two sides to every coin, a good side and a bad side. Iran has many similarities to the United States, but we rarely see them due to how the media handles each story – the inclusion/exclusion process is a tricky one, right? Stewart does not want this effort to "change lives." He wants it simply be a milestone in the two-dimensional conversations we have today about Iran, its people and its motives. Maziar represents the journalistic, combative nature towards the ignorance that we all, in some way, possess.

With an impressive performance by Gael Garcia Bernal and an even better effort from Kim Bodnia, we are presented with strongly supported narrative, but a mediocre story structure. At times, we need propulsion from scene to scene, but the strong dialogue carries us through to a point where we can look past the hiccups. Not to mention, Stewart displays his comedic talent in its rawest form, as it ironically stands tall with profundity in the darkest of times to help balance Maziar on the tightrope of sanity. Stewart, alongside a talented cast and articulate direction, turns in a genuine first run at feature filmmaking – one that will have us asking, "what's next?" 

Trailer Credit

Photo: Busboy Productions