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The Friend (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:5
Fresh:5
Rotten:0
Average Rating:6.9/10
Theatrical Release:Apr 8, 2005 Limited
Synopsis: Drawn from evidence that the 9/11 attacks were planned in student apartments in Hamburg, Elmar Fischer wrote and directed 'The Friend' as his feature film debut. "Easily the best 9/11 movie to... Drawn from evidence that the 9/11 attacks were planned in student apartments in Hamburg, Elmar Fischer wrote and directed 'The Friend' as his feature film debut. "Easily the best 9/11 movie to date... too assured and subtly resonant to ignore," said Mike D'Angelo of Time Out New York. Story about two college students addresses the cultural divisions facing us in the 21st Century and the spread of terrorism that can foment and stem from these divisions. Yunes, the Yemeni roommate of German student Chris, leaves without warning or forwarding address. A few days later, the 9/11 attacks occur. Chris and his companions begin to wonder: was Yunes a terrorist? The film shifts between Chris' investigation and flashbacks tracing Yunes' friendship with Chris, his romance with a German girl, his life as a Yemeni immigrant in Germany, and his flirtations with Islamic extremism. Using a non-linear narrative, 'The Friend' becomes an absorbing and timely reflection on the tangled relationships between the political and the personal." -- © Films Philos [More]
Studio: Films Philos
Reviews for The Friend
This topic could have been tackled with greater finesse; Fischer's conclusions feel a bit facile. But his actors do an excellent job portraying young people struggling with an almost manic paranoia.
Poses genuinely provocative questions and opens a window into the way the 9/11 disaster looks from outside the U.S.
The Friend, the feature-film debut of the German journalist Elmar Fischer, wades into morally murkier territory, imagining the quandary of a young man who might have befriended one of the terrorists.
First-time filmmaker Fischer examines the issues of Islamic extremism, Western decadence, and fraternal bonds, producing a compelling story that uses character and story ambiguity to appraise the fallibility of thinking one can ever truly know another.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie | Date |
|---|---|---|
| | Before Tomorrow | 12/2 |
| | Film Ist: A Girl & A Gun | 12/2 |
| 60% 60% | Brothers | 12/4 |
| | Everybody's Fine | 12/4 |
| | Armored | 12/4 |
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