So many things could have gone wrong with Rosewater. An inspirational biopic written and directed by “The Daily Show”’s Jon Stewart?! Rather surprisingly, Stewart’s dramatization of the ordeal suffered by Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari (Gael Garcia Bernal) incenses, rouses, entertains and authentically inspires. On the heels of Ahmadinejad’s reelection in 2009, Bahari spent 118 days in an Iranian jail under the suspicion that he was a spy for someone, anyone, according to the regime. Until his release, which was made possible by the international forces summoned by his mother (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and pregnant wife (Claire Foy), Bahari was physically beaten and psychologically tortured by his captors, the leader of which is capably portrayed by Kim Bodnia, more as a frightened bureaucrat than as a ruthless sadist.

Stewart handles this incredible story with the deftness of a filmmaking veteran, in spite of expectations that a feature film written and directed by Stewart would be a politically charged comedy like Michael Moore’s Canadian Bacon or a TV news spoof à la “The Daily Show.” His Rosewater makes a nice counterpoint to Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning Argo. The latter film captures the menace that was the Iranian Revolution; Rosewater shows the Iranian regime to have become a culturally out-of-touch, sheltered bureaucracy, where torturers are famished for and afraid of the lurid details of the Western infidel. Bernal has worked with some filmmaking giants, and Stewart’s script allows him to shine as brightly as ever. With little warning, Stewart may have just gone from household name to acclaimed filmmaker. Here’s hoping his small but powerful film will find an audience to feel its impact.