Five Fingers

source: Five Fingers

In Five Fingers, two people arrive in Morroco as part of a food distribution program. There is nice scenery of Morocco as two volunteers Gavin (Colm Meany) and Martijn (Ryan Phillipe) tour the landscape by bus. He is mysteriously tailed upon his arrival, and abducted. He awakens chained and is realizes he is "targeted". But is Martijn really who he says he is? A North African Ahmat (Lawrence Fishburne) begins a game of chess that is really a game of cat and mouse. As he ends the chess match with increasingly painful torture events. With one tormentor knowing more and trying to learn greater details, and a victim denying, yet somehow giving away more via flashbacks **Spoilers*** Needless to say the difficulty in distribution (since this came out in 2006) is due to the initial execution of one "victime" and torture of another during the War on Terror years 2001-????. It wasn't going to find proper distribution, however, it was curious that it was o.k. to show the torture of would be suspected Islamic terrorists in Rendition, 24 and countless other films, yet not show the reverse situation. That being said, it is a pretty good film that builds suspense. In the vein of Death and the Maiden or the Interview. In the ending, you really expect a bigger twist - so it is a lot more predictable then it started off. 5.9 of 10

Of course, I could watch just about anything with Lawrence Fishburne in it, but here, his performance and skill as an actor really shines. That's not to detract from the others in this film. All of the principal actors delivered absolutely excellent, convincing character performances. The story itself is a bit controversial, to say the least. It's not that I doubt this sort of "extreme" rendition occurs in current times, but there are various threads in this story which could be debated. Of course, I won't explain the outcome here, you'll have to see this film for yourself for that. But it does deliver an "outside the box" outcome which is certainly different than most films of this genre'. In a way, it does remind me a bit of the film "Unthinkable", another look into the murky world of extreme rendition, covert operations with a dark twist, and so on. I would suggest seeing this. Even if you don't buy the implications of the story, the acting in this work is first rate.

OMG! i loved this movie. OK, i know 3 years after the fact but this tells you that the movie was good then and it is still good now. Laurence Fishburne did and outstanding job and so did Ryan Phillippe. Very nice to see Fishburne play this type of role. Ryan, nailed this role. so believable. This movie will keep u guessing until the very end. U will love it. I enjoy watching movies alone so I can catch every detail to truly understand the different dimensions of the movie. On this movie u should do the same. Enjoy!

Hmm. Not sure what to make of this one. I thought it started very well, no pre-amble and got into the action straightaway. Colm Meaney's character seemed so lightweight you knew he was going to get killed. About halfway through the film, I started to not care about Ryan Phillipe's character. I started not to care about his 'food programme'. And sadly I saw the twist coming and was proved right. The acting was OK, Laurence Fishburne was great. It's just the story never really dragged you in. It felt like the film would've benefited more from being longer, allowing you to get more involved.

I liked it but there's only one little problem... after being shot on the head not a single drop of blood runs down Martjin's face. I wonder if Dutchmen doesn't have blood in their veins? And there's something else, I've live in Netherlands for 4 years and I've never seen a Dutch guy dating a Moroccan chick, this is almost impossible, Don't ask me why but it is! Ah, I almost forgot... Ryan's accent is not Dutch at all. If you close your eyes and just listen to his voice, you wouldn't be able to say where he is from. Anywhere but Netherlands. The one thing I really liked about this movie is that it shows what really happens behind the "curtains".

Recap: Martijn goes to Morocco to set up a food program for malnourished kids in the Rif mountains. Once there, he and his guide Gavin get attacked on a bus and kidnapped. Transported to an unknown location, Gavin is soon executed and Martijn interrogated about his intentions. Not being able to answer the kidnappers resort to torture by cutting off his fingers, one at a time. Slowly Martijn learns what his kidnappers want, and slowly he reveals his secrets... Comments: Starts out very promising building an air of suspense very quickly. But slowly, as the leads and recollections trickles out the ending comes more an more clear. And that's before the real ending happens. So when the real ending do come, the suspense is lost, the mystery gone and the supposed twist straight as an arrow. What it is though is an interesting attempt to move sympathy. Where the sympathy lies from the beginning is quite clear but as the story develops it shifts. It does not shift to the other end, and if that was the intention it fails. I'm not sure that that was the attempt though, but what it does do is that sympathy evaporates. And that actually, even though it is an interesting project and intriguing in itself, is a problem at the end. If we have no one to sympathize with at the end, why should we care at all? And that was my concluding emotions and thoughts at the end, compounded by the predictable end. Yes, interesting, but so what? It felt like the movie didn't matter. And that, I'm sure, is not what was intended. I guess quite the contrary. This is not a movie just to make money. This is a movie that wanted to make a statement, to leave an impression. It failed. What it does have is a good cast. Ryan Phillipe and Laurence Fishburne as the competing masterminds, the competing chess players, competing to match wits, do their part very well. Fishburne cool and calculating. Clearly in control and even cruel. Phillipe much more emotional but not lost nor weak. Gina Torres splendid as Fishburnes aide. She has the emotional side that Fishburnes character lacks (or does not show) but is just as calculating and cruel. Honorable mentions to Colm Meany and Touriya Haoud. All their performances very well, the cast clearly lifted the movie a few steps. 5/10

Argh, i just finished to watch this movie and still feel a bit shocked by how this movie drove me. It's interesting to see how it works some things of the system in an anything-goes method, including psychological terror and torture. And this movie depicts perfectly such feelings wonderfully. The incredibly convincing performances of Fishburne and Phillipe were just astonishing, leaving the viewer with an extreme anxiety and suspense... everything going little by little in an unavoidable downfall to hopelessness. For all those who are looking for something interesting, entertaining and specially thrilling, go watch this movie. I'm pretty sure you won't go disappointed.

I'll admit, I figured out what was going on very early in the film which detracted from the experience a little. However I have unique interests and circumstances in my life which allowed me to reach my conclusion early. After seeing this film through to the end, you may understand what I mean. This film is almost completely free of clinches, so for those of you that love to predict during thrillers, this one may be your best opponent. For most viewers this thriller will be entertaining all-the-way through and will keep you calculating until the very end. I did feel that the dialog at the end of the film was very unnatural and perhaps unauthentic which is why I gave it an 8 instead of a 10. After all, dialog is very important. The bulk of the film was great.

I just want to make sure that everyone who DID watch this movie, realized as I did, that Ryan Phillipe has done a lot of maturing. I haven't seen a lot of his work- last I recall was something with Susan Sarandon and Kieren Culkin-IGBY GOES DOWN?? Anyway, I was extremely impressed with Ryan's performance in this movie. Although Laurence was also great, I think this is Ryan's best performance ever- I hope it leads to better roles for him. I think he should at least get a nod at some kind of award. (I realize it's an older movie- I don't know if he had any affect on any previous nominations). Anyway, I hope that this is a taste of the NEW matured Ryan Phillip- I look forward, and will watch future films!