Rendition
by Gavin Hood
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DVD details
Actor: Alan Arkin, Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon, Yigal NaorDirector: Gavin Hood
Brand: Warner Brothers
Cinematographer: Dion Beebe
Composer: Mark Kilian
Composer: Paul Hepker
Editor: Megan Gill
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Original Language); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 122 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-02-19
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: New Line Home Video
DVD Reviews of Rendition
DVD Review: "The United States does not torture, Douglas!"
Summary: 5 Stars
Rendition sheds light on post-9/11 practices aimed at combating terrorism. An Egyptian-born man is apprehended as he returns to the United States following a trip to South Africa only to be transported to a secret location in Egypt where the torture begins. The film deals with several stories as they unfold simantineously and by the end of the movie everything falls into place.
Although Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, Omar Metwally and most of the rest of the cast carry out their performances well, Yigal Naor primarily and Peter Saarsgard secondarily steal the show. On the down side, I am not a fan of Jake Gyllenhaal and subsequently I did not appreciate his being in this movie.
The plot, the setting, the dialogues, and the music, are all very good.
In short, Rendition is a movie definitely worth watching if you are in the mood for a good political thriller. 4.5 Stars
DVD Review: An informative movie with a twist.
Summary: 4 Stars
I received this movie as a gift a few months ago and only recently sat down to watch it. I had no idea what it was about so I was going into it with absolutely no expectations. Not only was this movie very informative, it also has a rather interesting twist.
So what's the movie about? A man named Omar is taken to another country and is interrogated and tortured for a crime he says he didn't commit. Back home, his wife is worried sick and does everything in her power to get her husband back. Meanwhile, the head interrogator must deal with his own issues regarding his daughter.
Let's talk about the positives first. In terms of the acting, the cast is great all around (including Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, and Jake Gyllenhaal). As far as the storyline, there are a couple of things going on which might seem confusing but it all comes together in the end. The ending is rather shocking and although the movie is mainly about "rendition", it ends just like a movie should-with a twist. When it comes to the main topic, it makes me angry just thinking about it. I know that people are more sensitive post 9/11 but this movie just shows that everyone deserves to be treated with an "innocent until proven guilty" attitude.
And now for the negatives. I mentioned it above already but I'll say it again. The ending is a bit confusing. It may take a second watch to truly understand it.
Overall, I think this movie is informative and thrilling-two things that make a really good movie. I certainly recommend it.
DVD Review: Is One Life Worth the Cost of Thousands?
Summary: 4 Stars
After the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, several security measures were taken to protect the United States and its citizens. Among them, Congress passed the Patriot Act which gave the US Government unprecedented powers to gather intelligence and pursue terrorists. Rendition is the horrific story of what happens when the process nets an innocent person.
The USG, whose policies oppose any form of torture in this country, sought other means to extract information. Working with other countries whose policies did not ban torture and who were willing to accept these suspected terrorists, the USG sent such suspected terrorists to them. In the process, there was no requirement for due process of law and an individual's rights. Thus, a person could just simply disappear for years and nobody would notify family, friends or legal authorities. The process is called "extraordinary rendition".
The film raises fascinating questions about an individual's rights under such circumstances, vis a vis the safety and future security of our country. Clearly, when an innocent person is caught in this web, we feel horrified, debased and ashamed. But, there are always costs, and if a few individuals are mistakenly tortured when society at large is saved from the greater threat of thousands dying, is rendition an imperfect policy or a necessary strategy to protect this country?
The disc also contains a documentary called "outlawed" which chronicles the real life stories of two men from different parts of the world who underwent such experiences.
The film is beautifully made in the United States and Morocco. Meryl Streep is terrific as the US Government official ordering rendition, as is Omar Metwally, who plays the tortured individual. However, Reese Witherspoon, normally an excellent actress, as the missing man's wife seems to equate being a zombie with acting, giving a very disappointing performance. Jake Gyllenhaal is equally unimpressive as the US Government official assigned to represent the USG during the torture process. The film succeeds despite these two lackluster performances, and is a thriller well worth watching.
DVD Review: Sad and depressing.
Summary: 4 Stars
How much you enjoy rendition will largely come down to your political and ethical feelings about the war on terror.
As for the acting and the writing and directing, it is a great movie, and perhaps I am an old paranoid patriotic American, but I found the message, that America is evil, not quite accurate or helpful while we are at war. But I am sure that there are millions of people who will resound with the message.
4* for effort and execution, and 2 1/2* for the message.
But that's just me.
DVD Review: "I fear you speak upon the rack ,Where men enforced do speak anything"-Shakespeare
Summary: 5 Stars
A detailed review of this movie might ruin the pleasure of discovering how each character makes the choice between acting morally or simply walking away and doing nothing.
The movie elucidates legal rendition used by the United States, where suspects are taken into US custody but delivered to a third-party state. Torture by proxy is the most abhorrent form of torture, because it frees you from direct involvement in what is being done to another person.
Since 9/11, the CIA has reportedly launched an investigation into such cases of "erroneous rendition" where suspects were subject to rendition, confessed to crimes they didn't commit and were later found to be innocent civilians.
The subject of rendition in this movie is a wrongfully accused Egyptian born engineer (Omar Metwally), who lives in the United States with his wife (Reese Witherspoon) and child.
For the first time in his life, CIA analyst Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhaal) watches this torture, led by Fawal (Yiqal Naor, who gracefully played Saddam Husain in "House of Saddam"), and chooses to take a moral stand despite his boss's disapproval. At the same time, in juxtaposition to the torture event, a young suicide bomber, under the powerful control of a terrorist group, makes his own moral choice.
Great performances and a great story, enhanced by the presence of Meryl Streep and Yiqal Naor. Some might find the idea of a CIA member standing up to his bosses or a suicide bomber saying no to his recruiters incredible. In real life both people might not survive, but I believe that some hope still exist and the duty of the director and the movie is to propose the possibility of hope.
Is the idea of hero who dares to change things, merely a dream? Perhaps, but it's a grand dream!
Description of Rendition
Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal and Meryl Streep star in this nail- biting thriller about a man who mysteriously disappears on a flight from South Africa to Washington DC and the government conspiracy put in place to cover it up.Roger Ebert called it "perfect," and certainly the timing couldn't have been much better: Rendition was released just as the U.S. was debating anew the issue of "extraordinary rendition," a policy (begun under the Clinton administration, accelerated after September 11, 2001) of handing over suspected terrorists to countries that use torture as an interrogation tool. Alas, the movie only rarely fills in the outlines of a prototypical "issue movie," the kind of thing peopled by cardboard characters tracing the patterns of an important, indeed urgent, subject. The plot kicks into gear when an Egyptian-born man (Omar Metwally) is sent to an unnamed North African country where torture is practiced, with the CIA in approval. The film takes a Crash dive through how this affects various people: his pregnant American wife (Reese Witherspoon), the reluctant CIA agent (Jake Gyllenhaal) on the scene, a severe interrogator (Yigal Naor), all the way up to a U.S. terrorism honcho (Meryl Streep) willing to turn a blind eye to the unpleasantness if it stops a terrorist attack. Things spark briefly when Witherspoon enlists an old beau (Peter Sarsgaard) to plead her case with his boss, a U.S. Senator (Alan Arkin), but for the most part director Gavin Hood (Totsi) can't find a way to color in these line drawings, despite the formidable actors doing spirited work. The issue is fully and lucidly explained, but the movie doesn't come alive. --Robert Horton
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