danieldemeter-779-312856 Before I tear into this flaws of this film, I must say that the overall story is one that should be heard. The events that take place are very accurate reflections of "the situation" in Iraq, and the dialog spoken accurate reflections of the thoughts and feelings of those impacted by it. It is a movie that is worth seeing for anyone who wants a fairly accurate portrayal of the country and how it has been impacted by the war.However, numerous aspects of the production take away from the experience.1. Although it shouldn't impact the experience of the Western audience, one key flaw in this film is the Arabic language. The Arab actors, mostly Moroccan, don't speak in their native Arabic dialect but use fusha, or Modern Standard Arabic. The level of fluency in MSA varies from actor to actor, some of them speaking it smoothly and others butchering it. In many cases it is clear the actors are not at ease in the language. I feel if the director was not aiming at authenticity (by having their actors learn Iraqi Arabic), they should have just let the actors speak in their native tongue rather than MSA, which feels forced.2. Closely related, a lot of the minor Arab roles were just terribly acted, the actors and actresses largely devoid of emotion or expression and monotone in their dialog. Many of them really appear to just be reciting lines, not acting. Iraqis (and other Arabs of the region) are very expressive when they speak, both in their facial expressions and in their gestures. Many of the smaller characters seemed entirely one-dimensional in that regard. Having lived in the region for a few years, many of the actors (extras mostly) were unconvincing.3. The romantic subplot seemed convoluted and was not very convincing. It distracted from more important themes in the film.4. Even in 2003 when this movie takes place (before the violence peaked), a tall, blonde American woman with no Arabic language skills would not be able to so easily travel around Iraq independently with only her scrawny teenage translator, especially in such conservative areas as Samarra. My wife is Iraqi and found this aspect of the film particularly unfeasible.5. The naive right-wing ideologue character is a bit too much like a stereotypical characterture. Again, one dimensional and unconvincing.6. Like many movies filmed in Morocco that are supposed to take place in Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, there are many subtleties that are inaccurate, from the architecture to the types of cars driven, and this film doesn't really give me the feeling of being in Iraq. For example, I don't recall seeing a single portrait or statue of Saddam in the entire film. Green Zone (which, while primarily shot in Morocco, also incorporates many sequences shot in Iraq) and the Battle of Haditha (shot in Jordan) depict the subtleties of Iraq much better. The Hurt Locker also does a decent job of this, as does Three Kings.I suppose those are my main complaints, but they are mostly technical and related to the film-making, not the story which was generally well-written.Still, I'd recommend Green Zone and Battle of Haditha over this.

dromasca 'The Situation' is not only an Iraqi but a Middle-Eastern expression. In Israel as well when we want to describe the political complications or the effects of terror and war that always seem close if they are not present we talk about 'the situation'.'The Situation' is one of the first movies about the Iraq war and is not a bad one, but not a good one either. It combines the story of a reporter trying to find her way and tell the truth about Iraq with thriller elements and with a romantic story. The best parts are in rendering the hopeless situation the Iraqis live in, the permanent fear, violence and corruption that dominates their lives. The worst is however the one-sided view of the situation. While the focus is on the Iraqis and the usage of Arabic and the good acting makes this side of the story credible, it is the American who look almost all uni-dimensional, incompetent at best and unreasonably violent at worst, without any apparent motivation.I am sure more films about this tragic war will follow. Better films also.

birck This film sums up what I have come to believe about the war in Iraq, and does it very well. Almost all of the other comments on it in this forum are accurate, in my estimation. It's remarkable that so much was accomplished with so little money-roughly one percent of the budget of Apocalypse Now, for example. The production values are so high in most respects that I have to conclude that the confusing ambient sound track was a conscious choice of the director's. The story is told, at times, from the viewpoint of the Iraqi characters, a remarkable feat in itself. At least a third of the dialogue is in Arabic, with subtitles. Like "Three Kings", the film shows the Iraqis not as villains or caricatures, but just as people stuck in a crummy situation for which America is responsible. One of the other reviewers quotes Damien Lewis' character stating the basic premise of the film:"There is no truth, you know....It's just that the truth shifts according to each person you talk to." The reviewer came close, but he missed one line that summed up The Situation for me: "...because the truth is covered over with layers of agenda."Finally, if, ten or fifteen years from now, anyone is still interested in what was going on in the American war in Iraq, this film stands as the most convincing description I've seen.

efcarter Great story about the chaos and constant change of events in Iraq and the damage caused from miscommunication. The movie provides a view into what happens when multiple entities are trying to work together while at the same time each is more interested in their own agenda. The multiple entities in this film included the CIA, the US Military, the Iraq police, an Iraq community leader, and an Iraq underground leader. In addition to these groups there was also a reporter and photographer smack in the middle. The movie is a fictional film, however it was written by a reporter who has been in Iraq for a long time, not embedded with the US military, but out working on her own, therefore even though the movie is a fictional film it is based on the realities of living and working in this war torn part of our world. The casting was excellent and the story unfolded perfectly. This movie required the viewer to pay attention and keep track of the players and each of their agendas. It was fast paced and kept the audience involved. It was not a "Hollywood" film full of gratuitous violence, but instead a deeper story about the people involved. I saw this movie at the Palm Springs Film Festival and also enjoyed the Q&A session which followed the movie. It is a provocative film that evokes an emotional reaction from the viewers regarding their opinions about the US being in Iraq, which was demonstrated during the Q&A session! One of the goals of the film is to provide a starting point for discussing the war and the events in Iraq. It is not a political statement, but instead a method to get people actively involved again.