FILM REVIEW: 'Rosewater'

Jon Stewart, who has changed the nature of political satire since 1999, has written and directed his first film. And it's not a comedy. "Rosewater" is a riveting expose which honors one man's triumph of the human spirit.

That man is Maziar Bahari, an Iranian-born journalist based in the U.K. who works for Newsweek. When Bahari travels to Iran to cover the 2009 election, he is arrested nine days after Ahmadinejad's fraudulent win. For 118 days he's held prisoner and tortured, accused of being a spy.

Ironically, evidence used against Bahari was an interview in which he appeared on "The Daily Show." In a skit (which aired four days prior to his incarceration) with Jason Jones portraying a fake spy, Bahari sheepishly answers foolish questions with sincerity and dignity. His captors don't understand the concept of satire. As Stewart points out in an interview on NPR recently, "You can't outsmart crazy." Behari realizes it and figures he may as well confess which does, eventually, aid in his release.

In a difficult casting situation for Stewart, he casts Gael Garcia Bernal as Bahari. After Bahari's release from prison, he appeared on "The Daily Show" and the two became good friends. But it was a wise decision. Bernal's performance is masterfully executed. He nails the balance between seemingly meek and extremely intuitive perfectly. As we watch Bernal dancing to Leonard Cohen's music (in his head) while in his stark cell, we glean volumes as to how Bahari managed to survive his ordeal.

"Rosewater" is Stewart's platform to display that "humor is the antidote to dogma." It's something he has excelled at throughout his career as host of "The Daily Show." He celebrates the responsibility of "bearing witness" and respects those who do so on a regular basis. In this poignant piece of filmmaking, he also exposes that those who don't think for themselves fall prey to morally bankrupt regimes.

Stewart has created a gripping film through exquisite camerawork, precise scripting and determination, perhaps, to ease some guilt. True to himself in a more serious endeavor, he demonstrates that humor can survive in the bleakest of times.