Alicia I love this movie so much

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

empressoftheflames When I started watching this movie, I became so caught up in it and the dialog that I forgot that its title was 'strip search'. Then the second part of the movie focuses on it.The actors playing the victims do a brilliant job here and create great sympathy for themselves from the audience. Furthermore they act pragmatically. They ask for their rights to be read, to have counsel with a lawyer, etc. For example, at one point in the film they have a strip search done on them by a person of the opposite sex. They point out that's not how it's supposed to work and the interrogators just say that there are exceptions. I know there is no particular torture here but it is absolutely terrifying to know that what happened to these characters, an absolutely humiliating and petrifying thing, can happen to any one of us at any time regardless of where we live. This film makes us think about exactly how much power governments have, about what's worse- terrorism or the way the govt. fears it so much that it harasses innocent people on an mere suspicions, about whether we really do have freedom of speech. The actors, director and scriptwriter have done a brilliant job here. The realism and nudity gives it a raw feeling. The repeated dialog is an interesting aspect that adds an extra dimension to the parallelism but does not bore the audience. At first I thought the interrogators lines were the same because they both work of the same script within the movie's universe itself but I went on to realize that it metaphorically hints at how similar interrogation methods are worldwide.This was a movie worth watching, it's not fun and it might get you riled up but that's point. It shows an issue that needs attention. In fact it was so good it made me write this review, my first ever review, just so I could tell someone how thought provoking it was. Mature teenagers should not be stopped from watching this just because it contains nudity. The youth are our future. If they don't fight against these injustices who will?

pinkladynj Let me preface this by saying that I would not ever have sought out this piece of garbage if I wasn't such a big fan of Ken Leung. I can't believe that intelligent people would actually think they'd be enlightened by this. This is liberal propaganda at its finest. The excessive nudity was put in place to shock the viewer or repeatedly try to drive its its liberal message home. The dialogue was awful although the performances of all the actors, especially Maggie Gyllenhaal was exceptional.My question is: would they have made this movie in Iran or Iraq where freedoms are truly limited? My guess is no. Only in America, would a film like this be aired and eventually circulated. I'm glad HBO pulled this nonsense off the air. It's not worth the time, energy or money spent.I would love to see a movie about how many innocent lives were SAVED as a result of the Patriot Act.God Bless America!

ankhdragon2002 In the post 9/11 world, fear has been indoctrinated into most aspects of our lives. Governments worldwide manipulated and capitalized on this for their own gain - financially, politically and strategically. The Bush-driven Patriot Act has seen many people (guilty and otherwise no doubt) detained, tortured and dehumanized. Since a large percentage of the population are unaware that political agendas of media owners exist, they passively believe what they see on their nightly TV news or read in their daily newspapers. They are taught to fear the unknown, to trust their leaders implicitly (because they use nice words in speeches like 'freedom' and 'family') and not to question motives.'Strip Search' is a deliberate attempt to throw the light of reality into this collective 'un'consciousness.The storyline involves parallel stories of two people being detained in custody: an American woman in China, and a Middle Eastern man in the US. By using almost exactly the same dialogue, we are shown how to think outside the usual spectrum, and to feel compassion for both people. Without the twin story of the American woman, people would undoubtedly walk away from this feel feeling a lot differently.The acting is astonishing. One feels that this film meant more than just another job to the actors involved. I admire them immensely for their efforts.Hopefully this film will change a few minds, and that as a result - the world might become just that little bit better.

ballewal07 This was quite possibly the BEST hour of television that I have ever seen. I give major kudos to HBO for not backing down on a sensitive topic and producing a fantastic show. I admit that some of the nudity was gratuitous, but I know that using it was trying to make the situations as realistic as possible. I'm a law school student, and I was horrified that people, in our country or in others, do not protest that they have some basic human and civil rights in interrogation settings. I don't usually watch HBO because I don't like the programming, but I am glad I tuned in to watch. Again, this was a great show that everyone should watch. Make more shows like this! Don't be afraid to touch on sensitive topics.