Omar Metwally Movies
When character actor Omar Metwally commenced film appearances in the mid-2000s, he most often tackled roles that took advantage of his Middle Eastern heritage and appearance, such as his work in Steven Spielberg's critically praised docudrama Munich (as a militant PLO leader) and his haunting portrayal of a suspected suicide bomber in Gavin Hood's Rendition (2007). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Much as Steven Spielberg followed 1993's special-effects blockbuster Jurassic Park with a far more downbeat and personal project later the same year, Schindler's List, in 2005 after tearing up the box office with War of the Worlds the director closed out the year with a powerful and thoughtful drama about the human costs of international terrorism. The 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany, were supposed to be a peaceful gathering of outstanding athletes from around the world, but on September 5, the games took a sinister turn when eight masked Palestinian terrorists invaded the Olympic village, killing two Israeli athletes and abducting nine others. The kidnappers demanded safe passage out of Germany in addition to the release of Arab prisoners in Israeli and German prisons, but when they arrived at the Munich airport they were met by German police and military forces, and in the melee that followed, all nine hostages were killed. In the wake of the killings, the Israeli government gave Mossad, the nation's intelligence agency, a special assignment -- to track down and eliminate the Palestinians responsible for the death of the Israeli athletes. A young and idealistic Mossad agent (Eric Bana) is assigned to the four-man unit created to wipe out the Olympic terrorists, but while he believes in serving his country, as their bloody work goes on he begins to buckle under the weight of his work and wonders if he can morally justify his nation's acts of revenge. Munich also stars Geoffrey Rush, Daniel Craig, Mathieu Kassovitz, and Ciarán Hinds. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, (more)
- 2006
An unusually high death rate at Seattle Grace has aroused the superstitious instincts of the hospital staff. In particular, Izzie (Katherine Heigl) has a premonition that Denny (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), will not survive his heart-transplant surgery, while an OCD patient whose life is dictated by "the odds" drives Cristina (Sandra Oh) crazy. Elsewehere, Derek (Patrick Dempsey) and Addison (Kate Walsh) are still trying to work out their problems, with little success; Dr. Webber (James Pickens Jr.) treats his old friend Ollie (Mary Kay Place), and in the process relives a dark chapter in his own past; and George (T.R. Knight) is rapidly wearing out his welcome with Cristina and Burke (Isaiah Washington). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The director of the Academy Award-winning 2006 crime drama Tsotsi returns to the helm with this tale of a Middle East CIA operative who begins to have doubts about his latest assignment after witnessing the interrogation of a suspected suicide bomber by secret police. When Egyptian-born chemical engineer Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) mysteriously vanishes on a routine flight from South Africa to Washington, his wife, Isabella (Reese Witherspoon), embarks on a frantic international search for her missing husband. At the same time, a CIA analyst (Jake Gyllenhaal) arrives at a clandestine detention facility outside of United States. As the interrogation of El-Ibrahimi gets under way, the CIA analyst is profoundly shaken by the unorthodox methods used by the man's captors, and quickly begins to reevaluate his assignment. Peter Sarsgaard, Meryl Streep, and Alan Arkin co-star in this topical political thriller penned by Kelley Sane and produced by Steve Golin. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jake Gyllenhaal, Reese Witherspoon, (more)
- 2008
- PG13
James Ivory's adaptation of Peter Cameron's The City of Your Final Destination tells the story of how the family of a writer makes sense of their past decades after the author commits suicide. The plot begins when a graduate student approaches the writer's offspring about access to their father's papers so that a biography about the man can be written. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Omar Metwally, Anthony Hopkins, (more)
