"Not Without My Daughter" is the story of an all-American house wife who acquiesces to her Iranian-American husband's wish to visit Iran. Betty is reluctant to follow her husband "Moody" to his home country because she perceives it to be a dangerous place. He assures her very lovingly that it will be safe and he will take care of her. But when they get there, the culture clash is obvious: Betty is a brash outspoken woman compared to Iranian women, and Moody's personality completely changes. They fall into the roles of the dominant husband and subservient wife.

The change in Moody's personality is ridiculously portrayed. He goes from being a sweet, loving father and husband to a maniacal wife-beater who demands that his wife submit to his will. The change occurs almost overnight. After a brief visit, Moody dictates that the family will stay in Iran and establish a life there, and hardly ever lets Betty out of his sight. He refuses to listen to her pleas to return to her home country. Only when Betty appears to acquiesce to his plan does he give her minimal freedom.

I understand that the movie is based on a true story, and that the story on which the movie is based is probably very compelling. However, the movie totally turned me off to the story. It did not believably portray the evolution of Moody's character. The black-and-white contrast between Moody's personality in America, and his personality in Iran cast Arabs in a horrible light and fed into American stereotypes about foreigners as "other". The movie did draw attention to the plight of women in Arab countries, but other movies such as "Osama" have accomplished the same thing in a much more realistic way. More than portraying the plight of women, "Not Without My Daughter" is an anti-Arab movie. Nothing reinforces the anti-Arab, pro-America message more blatantly than the last scene of the movie, when Betty finally escapes her husband. The movie closes with her glimpsing the American flag. The music is valiant. The camera speed slows. America, the movie indicates, is the only place of true freedom. I don't buy it.

Betty was also totally disrespectful of Iranian culture when she was there. She did not make any attempt to fit in with the other women, even when she thought that she was just there for a short vacation. She wore bright flowery dresses and no head dress. She was brashly, embarrassingly American, and the movie portrayed this as though she was the normal one and the cultural expectations in Iran were ridiculous. The movie paid no respect whatsoever to the culture. Iranians were portrayed as pure bad, and American culture as pure good. It was not a credible vision of the world.

I found this heart wrenching book and movie to be very good. Ms. Mahmoody's tale of her loving husband's decent into brutality and religious fanaticism is horrific, but the love, determination, and devotion to her only child lift this story high. Watching this movie and then reading the book did NOT make me think that all Iranians or Muslims are barbaric. There are good and bad in ALL peoples. I applaud Ms. Mahmoody for her courage and her willingness to share her story and try to help others.

Not a very good movie at all. I read the book, enjoyed it and thought I'll enjoy the movie just as well, but I was very dissapointed! It's been made for holywood purposes, very weak performances, incomplete to the point that if you hadn't read the book you will not know what's happening, new characters pop up out of nowhere, without any explanation who they are and what they're doing there. Having read the book I understood what was happeing but otherwise one could get confused. Also parts of the movie were not true to the book. Eg. the escape in the car was nothing like what was in the book!! I'd say read the book and then watch the movie, or skip the movie all together, it's a waste of almost 2 hours.

A true story about a woman who marries an Iranian, has a child with him, and "visits" his family in Iran. To her horror, her husband tells her he intends to stay in Iran with both his wife and daughter. Watching her husband transform from a caring husband into a fanatic, I couldn't help feeling sorry for him too. He bacomes so influenced by the matriarch, whose mentality towards Betty's being forced to stay in Iran, is "If it was good enough for me, it is good enough for other women" that he became a victim of this woman as well. The man does show love for his wife by moving in with friends and away from this matriarch's influence but the problems do not end there. Betty is subjected to beatings at her husband's hands. Through this evil, a positive side of Iranians is shown. Many Iranians help her and her daughter escape her husband and take her home to America. The most moving part in the movie is when a nomad who is taking Betty and her daughter to Turkey, takes Betty's jewelry and pass port and then returns her belongs to her when she is no longer in his care. He has done a wonderful thing for Betty and has asked for nothing in return.
The best lesson this movie has to offer an audience is that by viewing the negative side of humanity, in any culture or country, we also see a positive side.

I have read Betty Mahmoody's books and watched this movie. I thought this movie was very watchable and entertaining. Not Without My Daughter is about a man who takes his family to Iran and swears that they will return after a vacation. After going to Iran, the man turns fanatical and does not want to go back to the U.S. and wants to keep his daughter in Iran. Cases like this do happen sometimes in Middle Eastern countries. What I didn't like was the awful way that Iranians were portrayed in the movie. As soon as Betty reaches Iran, Iranians are portrayed as these strange people who speak in a weird tounge and stare at you and etc. If you read the book it goes more into detail than the movie. There were some inaccuracies regarding Persian culture. The director and Sally Field as an actress went kind of overboard, they were trying to portray Sally Field as being scared in a foreign land but it winds up actually looking like disgust. Viewers should remember that Mahmoody's family was extra fanatical and the average Iranian is a peaceful person.