The film is about the Canadian-Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari who decided to cover the volatile Iranian elections for Newsweek. One day, a reporter began his mission by reaching out to the American media, where he appeared on the Daily Show with John Stewart, in a recorded interview with comedian Jason Jones. It seems that this session was for satire while there is a different framework they are fighting to turn things around.
Despite a few stylistic flourishes, the production is an earnest and straightforward account of what happened, with moments of naturalistic humor based on some major miscommunication.
[Rosewater features] fine playing from Bernal and Bodnia, and striking mixing of real and recreated footage of the riots that transpired after the rigged election.
Rosewater certainly has merit as an act of atonement on Stewart's part and a tribute to people like Bahari... In the end, however, the movie needs to stand on its own, apart from its noble intentions and the popularity of its writer-director.
Stewart does a credible job of maintaining the story's immediacy, but I must say I felt relieved that the film wasn't a masterpiece. If it was, we'd have more reason to fear Stewart will leave The Daily Show.
Stewart proves himself an adept visual stylist here, using simple techniques such as lighting scenes using the glow of a laptop screen to reflect the darkness that comes from being physically cut off from the people Bahari cares about the most.
We rarely get the sense that Stewart is talking down to us - which is why it's such a disappointment that 'Rosewater', is so often pitched and played like a carefully dumbed-down TV movie.
