Point of Attack

A somewhat frustrating documentary about our government's treatment of Arabs and Muslims in the post-9/11 United States, Point of Attack makes the mistake of assuming that the viewer will be easily outraged, and as a result it's half over before coming anywhere near the meat of the issues it raises. Beginning with unsubstantiated accounts of FBI agents busting into apartments and making arrests without reciting Miranda rights or detailing charges, director Kathleen Foster even goes so far as to imply that the FBI is responsible for a Muslim man's heart attack just because an agent left a business card in his mailbox. The film tries to stir indignation over standard immigration questions (e.g., about the legitimacy of a marriage to a U.S. citizen) and eagerly exploits bruises on the face of a former detainee (without ever saying how he got them), before eventually settling down and letting the facts speak for themselves, examining monthly government raids in a Brooklyn neighborhood of Pakistanis, and showing unedited, downright chilling footage of an INS officer telling Arab men required to "register" with Homeland Security that they will be detained if they try to invoke their right to have an attorney present during their mandatory "interviews." Point of Attack makes perfectly valid arguments that 1) people are being detained--"disappeared," really--in the United States on "secret evidence" and without access to legal representation; that 2) we've entered an era in which anything goes for anti-terrorist law enforcement; and that 3) civil rights are being swept aside right under our noses. Given that the film raises questions fundamental to the meaning of freedom, it's a real pity that Foster's soapbox isn't built of sturdier stuff. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (R. Blackwelder)