The Road to Guantanamo (2006)

This re-enactment (with the real-life subjects serving as talking heads throughout) centers on the "Tipton Three," British vacationers who were taken into custody as suspected terrorists when visiting Afghanistan. Though held for more than two years, eventually winding up in "Camp X-Ray," they were never charged.

Although I'm predisposed to be on the side of the detainees, I can't help but feel manipulated by the obvious one-sidedness of the telling. This feels like propaganda -- and why does it need to be? Told straight, this would be horrifying. Told with an obvious bias as it is, my skepticism kicked into gear and diminished the power considerably.

And what kind of idiots visit a Taliban-controlled country just months after the September 11 attacks? I mean, the trio were originally a quartet -- but one went missing during heavy bombing (before the others were imprisoned) and is presumed dead. Terrible? Sure. But it's also the kind of possibility most tourists would take into consideration when choosing a destination.

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