In 2009, Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari gave an interview with Jason Jones of The Daily Show. Jones pretends to be a spy for a skit, attempting to break Iranian stereotypes held by Americans.
Soon after, when Bahari is imprisoned by the Iranian government for documenting the controversial elections and social upheaval that follows, his captors hilariously –  or not so – reference the fake interview, and question him as to why he was communicating with a spy. He is held for 181 days.
This irony is at the core of “Rosewater,” Jon Stewart’s directorial debut based off Bahari’s memoir, “When They Came for Me.” Are we supposed to laugh at this or not? This confusion extends to the film, which tries to be both a comedy and a drama. While still a good film, it is held back from being a “great” film. Its best quality is the light it sheds on a tumultuous time in an underreported country.
The first half of the film is energizing, and puts the western audience inside a narrative they don’t often experience – Iran during the 2009 elections. We want to root for the clandestine broadcasting and the armament of knowledge. There is a cresting moment when CGI Twitter hashtags overlay reality, a hint at the Arab Spring to come.
Gael Garcia Bernal plays Bahari in “Rosewater,” interrogated and tortured by a man of the same name, identified as he is by the holy Islamic scent of rosewater. Played by Kim Bodnia, the character is impulsive and volatile. 
Garcia Bernal has an easy likability and intellectual sense of humor, and he also passes as a serious journalist. There are a couple really powerful scenes as he becomes a man desperate to return to his pregnant wife and pushed close to insanity by solitary confinement. 
The problem is that these actors have good comedic chemistry, and Jon Stewart plays his strengths, writing in genuinely funny scenes that ruin the tone of otherwise dramatic ones. With the real Bahari onset during production, we must wonder how he felt that his hardship was sometimes being made into a joke. 
The cinematography and choice of muted and pastel colors was interesting, but nothing groundbreaking. Given the textures of the building materials in Iran, the colors of the clothes and cloths, and the sharp contrast made by all the sun and white stone, there was the opportunity for more interesting work. Of course there is only so much that can be done with a shot of a solitary confinement cell. 
Limitations aside, Rosewater is still entertaining and insightful into the time and place. The majority of viewers probably won’t feel like they’ve wasted their time having seen it.