Five fingers - Gioco mortale

Despite Ryan Phillipe's awful accent (as Martijn), the movie does a good job pulling you into the world they create. It is, as advertised, a "psychological thriller" and a bit of a mystery as you watch it unfold and slowly flashbacks illuminate the present situation.

Laurence Fishburne is EXCELLENT and makes the movie. Phillipe does a good job and although other characters play pivotal roles, it is really about the two of them.

Most of the film is shot in the same location, but it never gets boring or drags and keeps a lot of tension in most of the scenes. A real psychological treat if you just enjoy it! Not the best movie, but certainly a solid piece of entertainment that gets you to look at things from a slightly different perspective than most treatments of the subject of 'terrorism'.

This is a tense psychological drama. A Dutch banker travels to Morocco to set up a food program at the behest of his Moroccan girlfriend. He is kidnapped by a group of extremists who hold him captive and ultimately torture him for information. But who, we wind up asking, is ultimately who? And what truly are everyone's motives? It's a tough film to watch as it deals not only with terrorism and our assumptions about terrorists but also with the challenging topic of torture as a means of obtaining information.

The best parts of the film involve the intense dialogs between the three main characters of the captive, Martijn (Ryan Phillippe), the captor, Ahmat (Laurence Fishburne), and the captor's accomplice, Aicha (Gina Torres). These three actors' performances are outstandingly authentic and riveting. There's no question that if you love to see actors at the top of their game that you shouldn't miss this film. Ryan Phillippe's role as Martijn, however, is the most demanding and he never falters. As the focus character, Ryan's performance creates an incredibly intelligent and complex character.

But this, nevertheless, is a flawed film. It sometimes stumbles over itself. There seems to be some serious issues with editing and pacing. That's too bad. But this is still definitely worth watching if you can handle it's frank look at modern man's sojourn into primitive behavior.

"Five Fingers" is a great psychological thriller, which takes place mainly inside a torture room. The story is about Martijn (Phillipe), a young Dutch idealist who goes to Morocco to finance a food program from money he has embezzled; his cause is encouraged by his Moroccan girlfriend, Saadia (Haoud). However, as soon as he reaches Rabat, he gets abducted by a terrorist group, led by a dark character played by Lawrence Fishburne, who believes that Martijn has come there with a sinister purpose. They interrogate him harshly, and although in the beginning he tries to explain his mission, he subsequently decides to change his story. What is the truth, then?

Malkin provides us with a carefully crafted claustrophobic setting, with the tension gradually building up as the abductors play cat and mouse with Martijn. In this theatrical atmosphere, all actors give good performances, and are even moderately successful in applying their respective accents (Dutch, Arabic).

However, the best thing of all is the clever ending, which of course I am not going to reveal here. From that alone, the film deserves an 8/10.

I recently watched Five Fingers (2006) on Tubi. The film follows a Dutch man who travels to Morocco to set up a food bank. Shortly after his arrival, he is kidnapped by an infamous "enemy of the state" who suspects the man has ulterior motives and is working for someone else. The domestic terrorist then begins torturing him to uncover the truth.

Directed by Laurence Malkin (Soul Assassin), Five Fingers stars Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix), Ryan Phillippe (Crash), Colm Meaney (Layer Cake), Gina Torres (The Matrix Revolutions), and Touriya Haoud.

This is one of those movies that's quite average in most aspects, but it still keeps you interested in finding out what will happen next and who is playing whom. The story is a long game of cat and mouse, with solid dialogue and average torture scenes. While the premise behind the torture sequences is okay, they could have been executed better. The film features multiple twists and turns as more details emerge about who is telling the truth, and the ending is both rewarding and a fun conclusion. There's just enough here to make it worth watching at least once.

In conclusion, Five Fingers is a fairly average espionage thriller, but it has enough worthwhile elements to make it worth a viewing. I'd give it a 6/10.

i missed the first 15 minutes first time i saw five fingers on cable . i thought it would be just another dumb action, terrorist movie with a typical ending . wow, was i wrong ! five fingers is a truly psychological thriller with a Hitchcock like ending . being only 87 minutes long, it shifts into high gear very quickly . it could have been a stage play because not many scene changes nor many characters to deal with here . Laurence Fishburne gives a truly memorable, award winning performance as Ahmad, the muslin kidnapper . the ending caught me totally by surprise . so much that i ran out to buy the DVD . i watched it a few times because i missed some important details the second time around . i am sorry i did not get to enjoy this movie in the theatre . it was one of the best movies i have seen during the past few years . most films i see are forgotten as soon as they roll the credits at the end . five fingers had me thinking about it for a long time . see it you won't be sorry !