AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Wyatt There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Reno Rangan Adaptation of the french novel 'The Assassination'. The movie was so good, but I had a hesitation over the contents. The movie tried to be a too smart by being a neutral, hence failed to convince on that issue. The problem was, it sets in the real world around real conflict, but the facts were excluded. So that led many countries to ban in their market. The good thing was, to I like the movie, the story concentrates on the human curiosity and emotion.I thought it was an okay movie until the end twist. It was not that grand, but very- very simple and potent. Awesome filmmaking, could have been a top contender if it would have nominated for the Oscar. I wanted to rate it higher, but I feel something is not right as it was based on the real subject, but a fictional account. I definitely recommend it because the result could be different for you with your viewpoint.7/10

dancekitty-910-786080 When the film begins, we think it is about a suicide bombing attack that kills innocent Israeli children. Then, we start to think that maybe "the attack" refers to the aggression Dr. Jaafari, the bomber's husband, will face from Israeli authorities and his Israeli friends. But that is not why it's called "The Attack". It is an intrapersonal conflict which Dr. Jaafari faces. It is an attack on his ego, judgment, love, and trust that he had in his relationship with his wife. It is also an attack on his personal identity--does he identify as an Arab, Israeli, husband, uncle, or doctor? The film does not provide answers, only questions, to those who are willing to accept them.

jadepietro This film is highly recommended.At times, our world seems littered with random acts of violence. Just a glimpse at any newspaper will sadly confirm that statement. A tragic event can befall anyone. Anytime. Anyplace. Suddenly, one's life can veer from happiness to despair within seconds. The senselessness of a violent act and the unending repercussions that follow will permanently change that life and send one reeling with questions in search of inexplicable answers. That is the premise of the Ziad's Doueiri's taut mystery thriller, The Attack.Amin Jaafari (Ali Suliman), a successful Arab doctor living in Israeli, receives the tragic news that his wife, Kim (Reymond Amsalem), has died as a result of a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, only to discover later that his wife may have been the actual bomber. As Amin searches for the truth, he begins to question their former relationship, the political and religious unrest between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and the evil act itself.This Lebanese film looks at the on-going Arab-Israeli conflict in realistic terms and tries to show both sides without a judgmental knee-jerk reaction. The director sensitively handles this material with much directness and foresight. He rarely flinches from the brutality and blind-sighted extremism that permeates both factions. (Yet this film has been banned from Israeli and many Arab countries due to its controversial subject matter, a reprehensible act which I find troubling and disgraceful in that many will not see this powerful and thought- provoking film.) Doueiri and Joelle Touma co-scripted this drama based on Yasmina Khadra's novel and the results are literate and quite gripping. As Amin slowly unravels the clues to his wife's possible participation in this heinous crime, the audience is expertly drawn into this complicated ordeal with strong acting, especially by Suliman and Ansalem and Doueiri's solid direction. (Some of the clues do lack the element of surprise and seem a bit too obvious once revealed.) But The Attack attacks its subject with an honesty and skillfulness that allows moviegoers to contemplate the actions of radicals and fanatics that continue to cause harm to so many innocent victims, shouting their political rants under the guise of religion. There are many powerful scenes containing violent images that show the carnage and destruction caused by years of hatred and revenge. The film elicits emotional debate with its well-developed characters and its straightforward confrontations that build to a stunning denouncement. The Attack accomplishes its mission head-on and all those involved in this production should be commended for their courage and efforts. This solemn film is unafraid to deal with the complex issue of terrorism, even if fear and animosity have run amok in our changing world. The Attack needs to be seen. GRADE: B+NOTE: The censorship of this important film only emphasizes the length that controlling government officials and religious zealots will go to to silence its people and promote their irrational agendas to perpetuate this endless cycle of violence. Hopefully, films like The Attack will, one day, bring about some peace and understanding that everyone deserves. Unfortunately, for now, the war rages on.

Howard Schumann Based on a novel by Yasmina Khadra, Lebanese director Ziad Douiere's The Attack is about a man without a country. Unlike Philip Nolan in Edward Everett Hale's classic novella who has been exiled from his country forever, however, Dr. Amin Jafaari (Ali Suliman), a respected Israeli Arab doctor, never had a country to begin with. The film, about a man whose life is turned upside down in the course of a single moment, is a gripping suspense thriller, an intimate love story, a poignant personal drama, and a powerful political statement. What it adds up to is superior entertainment. Unfortunately, the film has been banned by the Arab League for the crime of filming in Israel, limiting its potential to reach a bigger audience.The film opens with Dr. Jafaari delivering his acceptance speech at a prestigious medical conference where he has been honored as the first Arab ever to receive an important medical award. Oddly, his wife Siham (Reymond Amselem) is visiting relatives in Nazareth and is not with him to celebrate the apex of his career. Before going on stage, he receives a call from Siham but tells her that he cannot talk and will call her later. That is the last time that he will ever hear her voice. The next day, while at the hospital, Amin hears a loud explosion and knows from experience that a suicide bombing has taken place and will bring many injured and dying victims to the hospital.Dr. Jafaari, who has always treated both Arabs and Israelis, works feverishly to save as many lives as possible, even though a Jewish victim refuses to be treated by an Arab and spits in his face. Amin's world of safety and respect is torn apart when he learns that his wife may be the suicide bomber responsible for the death of 17 people including 11 children. Arrested and mercilessly grilled by a relentless Israel Intelligence officer (Uri Gavriel), he is told that the bomber has been positively identified by forensic evidence as his wife but he is in denial. It is only after he receives a letter from Siham in which she tells him not to hate her that he becomes convinced of the impossible.The letter is mailed from Nablus, a Palestinian city on the West Bank, but Amin withholds the information from his friend Raveed (Dvir Benedek), a high-ranked police officer. Provided sanctuary by Kim Yehuda (Evgenia Dodina), a Russian colleague, Amin is distraught by the realization that his wife of fifteen years had a secret life that she never shared with him. Mirroring Denis Villeneuve's 2010 film Incendies, he travels to Nablus at great personal risk to trace the roots of Siham's involvement, questioning family and friends to find answers. As Amin seeks out those responsible, he is told by his nephew Adel (Karim Saleh) who was deeply involved, "Something snapped in her head," and by Sheik Marwan (Ramzi Makdessi) that he has no business there and to return to Tel Aviv before he brings the Israeli Intelligence down on his people (why Israeli intelligence did not follow him to Nablus is not explained).An Arab leader in the Christian church tells him, "We're not Islamists and we're not fundamentalists, either. We are only the children of a ravaged, despised people, fighting with whatever means we can to recover our homeland and our dignity," and adds, "I never met your wife," the priest declares, "I wish I had." When Amin learns that Sahim is considered a hero and a martyr with her picture posted all over the city, he begins to feel trapped between his loyalty to the Arab cause and to his Israeli colleagues who opened so many doors for him and his wife. Visiting the rubble of Jenin, a Palestinian refugee camp that was bombed by the Israelis, he starts to sense the anger behind his wife's radicalization.Doueiri presents a balanced picture of the feelings on both sides, and The Attack is not a propaganda film. Although it is about the seemingly impassable political divide that separates the Israeli and Arab worlds, the film is basically a look at the human cost of the conflict. A sensitive and poetic story of the love between two people shown in flashbacks, the film asks the question – can we ever really know another person, even those we have been intimate with for many years? Can we ever know what goes on in the deepest layer of their being, how they "sense" the world? Can we even know ourselves, who we really are? For Amin, who must put the pieces of his life back together, there are many questions, but few answers, only emotional scars that will last a lifetime.