''Five Fingers'' is a 2006 American drama-thriller film directed by Laurence Malkin, and written by Chad Thumann and Malkin. The film had ten producers, including actor

Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III (born July 30, 1961) is an American actor. He is a three time Emmy Award and Tony Award winning actor known for his roles on stage and screen. He has been hailed for his forceful, militant, and authoritative charact ...

, who stars in it alongside

Ryan Phillippe Matthew Ryan Phillippe (; born September 10, 1974) is an American actor. After appearing as Billy Douglas on the soap opera ''One Life to Live'', he came to fame in the late 1990s with starring roles in films including ''I Know What You Did Las ...

Gina Torres Gina Torres (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Zoe Washburne in the science fiction series ''Firefly'' (2002–2003) and its feature film sequel '' Serenity'' (2005), and as Jessica Pearson in th ...

, Touriya Haoud,

Saïd Taghmaoui Saïd Taghmaoui (born 19 July 1973) is a French-American actor and screenwriter. One of his major screen roles was that of Saïd in the 1995 French film ''La Haine'', directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Taghmaoui has also appeared in a number of En ...

and Colm Meaney. ''Five Fingers'' was filmed in the Netherlands, Morocco, and

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

in 2004.

Plot

Martijn (Phillipe), a gifted Dutch

jazz pianist Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instru ...

, flies to Morocco to set up a food assistance program. When he arrives, however, he and his travel guide, Gavin (Meaney), are quickly kidnapped by

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

s, taken to an undisclosed location, bound and blindfolded. The captors swiftly shoot Gavin and then begin methodical attempts to extract information from Martijn about where he obtained the money to set up the program by cutting off his fingers one at a time. Martijn insists that he has no idea where the money came from, though in time it becomes clear that all is not what it seems. Martijn at first denies everything as he and his captor Ahmat (Fishburne) begin to play a game of

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

. Ahmat expresses his love for the game stating that there is no bluffing in chess but calculation. Martijn loses the second round and refusing to answer questions, loses his first finger. Later, Aicha (Torres), a woman arrives to tend Martijn's wounds. As Martijn refuses to give up the names, he suspects Aicha being a part of the ruse and refuses to tell anything further. Aicha then cuts off Martijn's second finger as he refuses to tell the truth where the money came from. Later, Martijn wakes up to find his hand strapped into a vice to prevent himself from escaping torture as Ahmat returns to give Martijn familiar information from newspapers such as Germany and Poland seeking a labor deal and six Palestinians killed in an airstrike by the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defens ...

so Martijn can be familiar with them. He then begins to present Martijn a theory that he is a CIA agent trying to find information on Hassan Fikri which Martijn denies after hearing a phone call of himself making an inquiry about Fikri's whereabouts. Still convinced that Martijn is lying, Aicha cut Martijn's third finger off as he refuses to give up the names of his friends and more of the information. The next day, Aicha offers kindness to Martijn by removing his soiled clothing and giving him a bath when he soils his own pants. As he is bathed, Martijn tells Aicha that he hates the CIA and tries to build common ground by stating that he is an idealist who wants to change the world, and that a dozen 9/11 attacks all over the world would have larger corporations begin effecting social change. Aicha accuses him of being trained by the CIA and threatens to take another finger if he is lying. Martijn allows her to cut off his index finger. Whenever Martijn is tortured, several flashbacks show his happy life back home in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

with his girlfriend Saadia. As the torture continues, Ahmat tries his hardest to get answers from Martijn. Eventually, Martijn reveals to Ahmat that he is, in fact, a terrorist and was going to poison fast food with bacteria, killing potentially thousands of Americans. After giving up the names of those within the Holland terrorist cell funding him for his alleged food program, Youseff, a man who had been filming Martijn, kills him. Ahmat is revealed to be a CIA agent and Gavin, still alive, is revealed to be an American who had been working with Ahmat the entire time. Ahmat and Aicha, revealed to be his girlfriend, go for a drink, showing the Statue of Liberty revealing they had been in New York City the entire time.

Cast

as Ahmat, a terrorist revealed to be a CIA agent *

as Martijn, a Dutchman and pianist who goes to Morocco to start a food charity, later revealed to be a terrorist of a cell whose true intentions are to poison fast food and kill thousands of Americans *

as Aicha, one of Ahmat's associates, later girlfriend. Her actress, Gina Torres is also Laurence Fishburne's ex-wife and is the only movie she and her ex-husband starred in. * Touriya Haoud as Saadia, Martijn's girlfriend *

as Youseff, an associate of Ahmat * Colm Meaney as Gavin, Martijn's travel guide, later revealed to be working with Ahmat * Anton Sinke as The Donor * Antonie Kamerling as Policeman * Kimmosato as Neighbour * Isa Hoes as Mother * Merlijn Kamerling as Boy * Delilah Van Eyck as Waitress * Mimi Ferrer as Dutch Woman

Reception

The film made virtually no money in its short run in theaters. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has three positive reviews and one negative review. Jay Weissberg, from ''Variety (magazine), Variety'' gave the film a positive review saying, "As a lesson in how subtle acting styles can calm a highly pitched story, pic delivers the goods."

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Five Fingers 2006 films 2006 thriller films American thriller drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films