The Reluctant Fundamentalist is not in the league of Nair’s best films, Salaam Bombay and Monsoon Wedding, but it’s thoughtful and thought-provoking all the same. For that and for Riz Ahmed, it’s definitely worth a watch.

| Original Score: 3.5 | Jan 15, 2023

This drab political thriller is not unlike a relaunched brand of margarine. The creators obviously have the best of intentions, but cannot avoid the blandest of outcomes.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 7, 2020

A film that should at least be bound to generate intelligent conversations, Nair's latest isn't without familiar issues, but it's a damn refreshing point of view.

| Aug 12, 2019

The film could have done with more finesse in the way it begins and ends, but there are enough subtle shifts in the main act to keep me with it. After Monsoon Wedding and The Namesake, The Reluctant Fundamentalist is [Mira] Nair's most engaging work.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 20, 2019

Unfortunately, despite intelligent performances by Ahmed, Schreiber and Sutherland, the film's story never engages us fully. An undeniably well-crafted, slick affair, Nair's latest is infinitely more honourable than it is successful.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 25, 2019

A film like this stands or falls on the performance of its lead, and the young British actor Riz Ahmed doesn't disappoint.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 19, 2018

I found several of the story's twists both startling and, in retrospect, totally believable.

| Aug 8, 2018

Nair lets her drama unfold thoughtfully and draws impressive supporting performances from Kiefer Sutherland, as Changez's Wall Street boss, and Liev Schreiber.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 31, 2017

Every new revelation is signposted so heavily, you can almost hear the hammer blows.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 5, 2017

There is a lot of plot to get through, and Nair employs some interesting visual devices to help sweep us through the morass of characters and history as she tackles big themes in a complex layer of issues.

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 31, 2016

A provocative, ambitious drama about the unconsidered assumptions that power our cultures, for good or ill.

| Aug 26, 2013

Despite some promising moments, it never quite coheres into a convincing story. It's worth seeing... but it ultimately feels like a missed opportunity - like a pedant groping for a profundity beyond his moral ken.

| Original Score: 84/100 | Aug 16, 2013

Reasonably thoughtful, moderately engaging material dealing with some thorny issues. It may be a catalyst for intelligent conversation, which is more than you can say for most movies.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 12, 2013

The film seems to dance around the idea of being really critical of America-of analogizing American "exceptionalism" with Islamic fundamentalism-and instead resolves itself with an ending more befitting of a beauty pageant contestant's speech.

| Jun 14, 2013

The film's international intrigue is unlikely to resonate too closely with today's headlines because of a conventional approach that alternates between a mechanical thriller and a shallow if provocative character study.

| Jun 12, 2013

The very fact that Nair -- who is very at home on the subject of culture clashes -- tackled a thriller is noteworthy, as is the fact that she doesn't blow it.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 4, 2013

A notable cast - and noble intentions - can't elevate what is a very ordinary film.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | May 29, 2013

The film from writer William Wheeler and director Mira Nair ("Monsoon Wedding') is smart and complex, as unwilling to cling to one ideology as its protagonist.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 28, 2013

A confronting and compelling look at post-9/11 racism in America.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 27, 2013

Novelistic film wants to spark discussion about race and fear

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 26, 2013