There are a lot of great things about the United States -- our democracy, our landscapes, our technology, our people, and most importantly, football. But, even with the advances in communication shrinking our world, the U.S. often feels isolated and Americans don't always pay attention to news stories from the rest of the world. Despite news feeds from around the world, local news always runs first. Therefore, there are times when documentaries or docudramas may be the best way to get the attention of Americans when it comes to international issues. This could certainly be the case with The Whistleblower.

Rachel Weisz stars in The Whistleblower as Kathy Bolkovac, a police officers working in Lincoln, Nebraska. She's recently divorced and her husband has been awarded custody of their daughter. To make matters worse, he's moving to Georgia. Kathy has tried to find a job in Georgia, but to no avail. Her commander informs her of high-paying security jobs in the former Yugoslavia. Soon, Kathy finds herself in Bosnia as part of a UN peace-keeping force. Things are awkward at first, but she begins to settle in, making friends and flirting with Jan (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), a colleague from Holland. Kathy becomes the first person to successfully prosecute a domestic violence case in Bosnia, and she's promoted to a special division devoted to gender crimes. There she meets Madeleine Rees (Vanessa Redgrave), an older idealist, and Laura Leviani (Monica Bellucci), a hard-nosed bureaucrat. Kathy hears about a raid at a bar and finds that it was full of young women. She begins to investigate and finds evidence that the women were being held against their will as sex slaves. This investigation into human trafficking reveals that members of the UN forces are involved. Kathy attempts to take this information to her superiors and it's not only met with resistance, but threats as well.

The Whistleblower brings to light two topics which aren't exactly well-known in America. The war in Bosnia-Herzegovina was certainly covered by the press here, but it was oftentimes difficult to understand exactly what was going on. The story in The Whistleblower takes place after the war, but it still illustrates the racial and religious discrimination which goes on in that country. We see how people will ignore or claim to not understand others simply because of their ethnic differences.

The movie also focuses on human-trafficking, a topic which rarely gets mentioned in the U.S. We often hear about kidnapping and prostitution, but not the actual buying and selling of people. In the film, we see how young women are taken across borders and then enslaved. This is often done as a way to pay back a debt and we see the squalid conditions in which they live, and how they are treated like animals. In addition, we see how the government there turned a blind eye to these activities, as women are second-class citizens in that part of the world.

The Whistleblower presents these ideas to us in a fairly middle-of-the-road political thriller. The movie falls squarely into the good, but not great category. Everything in laid out in a very orderly fashion and once the basic ideas are in place, it's pretty clear where the movie is going. If Kathy was able to easily meet her goals, there wouldn't be much of a movie, so when her superiors balk are her claims, it's not all that surprising. There are a few small surprises along the way, but most everything is as it seems. The acting is good, but Weisz seems to be odd casting, especially when one sees the real Kathy. She seems a bit to put-together for the environment. The Romanian locations certainly feel authentic and the production makes good use of bombed-out buildings and rural locations.

In the end, The Whistleblower has the feeling of a big-budget Lifetime movie. The film presents some very important ideas and the movie is well-made, but it's never completely engaging or very intense.

The Whistleblower is apparently suggesting that pinball should be an Olympic sport on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 30 Mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, showing little grain and no defects from the source material. The grain which does appear looks to be intentional to add to the gritty nature of the movie. The colors look good and the picture is never overly dark or bright. The level of detail is good (just look at the patches on the uniforms) and the depth of the image is notable. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and at an average of 3.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The stereo effects are nicely done and show good separation. This is especially evident during crowd scenes. The moments when Kathy is out on the road offer good surround sound effects, creating a real atmosphere. Subwoofer effects are kept to a minimum, save for a few scuffles.

The lone extra on The Whistleblower Blu-ray Disc is "Kathy Bolkovac: The Real Whistleblower" (6 minutes). This brief featurette offers comments from the real Kathy and the real person who is played by Vanessa Redgrave in the film. The real Kathy looks nothing like Rachel Weisz, but it is nice to hear from the real person, despite the fact that we don't learn anything beyond the scope of the movie.