Here's Hoping that Satirist and now Film Writer/Director Jon Stewart has Compensated for the Guilt He must have Felt after a Segment on "The Daily Show" Indirectly or perhaps Directly led to the Arrest of Journalist Maziar Bahari in Iran on the Charges of being a Spy (that was play-acted in the TV Show segment).

Stewart Shows some Flair for Cinema in the First Half with some Effective, if Artsy Arrangements of Images Superimposed on Landscapes that is a Surreal Opening to an all too Real Second Half.

Also, it is the First Half of the Movie that Grips with its Diving into the Counter Culture of Iran's Youth Movement, its Braggadocio and Behavior that almost Begs for Attention from the Police State.

After the Controversial Election and its Aftermath of Riots that Journalist Bahari is Covering and His immediate Arrest and Imprisonment, the Film Takes a much more Sombre Tone and the Filmmaking Flourishes and maybe even its Purpose is Succumbed by the Interrogation and Captivity Scenes.

Although Stewart shows some Ability to alleviate some Boredom with Flashbacks and Dream Sequences, by the Third Act the Movie does Feel like it has Run its Course of Insight and Criticism of the Iranian Political System.

Overall, it is a Story Worth Watching and Remembering, still very Topical, and it's a Solid, if Wanting, Effort from Jon Stewart.

Political enough, Artistic enough, and Profound enough to be Recommended and Despite its Low Budget Limitation is Better than the Best Picture Winner of a Few Years Back that also was Set In Iran, Albeit in the 1970's.

In June 2009, "The Daily Show" correspondent Jason Jones went to Iran to report on the country in preparation for its upcoming presidential election. While there, he carried out a satirical interview with journalist Maziar Bahari. In his typical persona of an empty-headed American, Jones asked Bahari why Iran is so scary. Bahari noted that Iran and the United States have a lot in common, namely an enemy in al-Qaeda. Not long afterwards, Iran's election saw the victory of incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, widely seen as a fraudulent victory. After Bahari covered the protests, the government arrested him, accusing him of being a foreign agent. They used the "Daily Show" interview as evidence, not understanding that it was a joke.

In 2013, Jon Stewart took a break from hosting "The Daily Show" to make "Rosewater", about Bahari's incarceration and torture. It's some pretty harrowing stuff. The main thing that I took away from it is that ideologues don't get satire. Much like how Iran's government didn't realize that Bahari's interview was a joke, there are people in the US who read articles on The Onion and take them for real stories (Louisiana Rep. John Fleming went so far as to post an Onion article on his Facebook, mistakenly thinking that it was a real story). The point is that extremists on both sides have a kneejerk reaction, and their lack of rational thought influences their policies. Jon Stewart has proved himself a very capable director, and I hope that the movie draws more attention to the countless imprisoned journalists the world over.

In 2009, Maziar Bahari (Gael García Bernal) travels to his homeland to report on the Iranian election for Newsweek. His father was once imprison for being a communist and so was his late sister. He does a segment with The Daily Show. When Ahmadinejad is declared the winner, protests erupted and he's arrested. He is imprisoned for 4 months facing constant interrogation.

The movie is pretty compelling for the first 30 minutes. It's interesting history and good drama. After getting imprisoned, the movie doesn't have quite as much. Jon Stewart doesn't really have any interesting style and that section needs that something out of the box. It's earnest and so is everybody else. Jon could have gone surreal. It's pretty straight forward with some attempts at dark humor. It's a fine informative film.