Rendition

Well Made - But sub Oscar fare, 2 November 2007

Author: gary-444 from United Kingdom


*** This review may contain spoilers ***


Finding the yardstick by which to judge this film is a challenge. As a straightforward Drama / thriller it is pretty good. Charging through its' two hour running time, it is pacey, sharply edited, well acted and contains a neat twist. As a landmark "issue" film, it fails, partly due to the complexity of the issues it tries to take on, and partly because Hollywood is still just edging into trying to understand Middle Eastern born terrorism.

The characters, in a packed narrative do eschew stereotypes. Jake Gyllenhaal, as Dougalas Freeman, the junior CIA case officer, delivers a powerful, understated performance. The personification of "less is more". However his power to single handedly release the suspect at the denouement, and his preparedness to wreck his career by going to the Washington Post, is somewhat "sudden".

Omar Metwally as suspect El ibrahimi plays the bewildered victim solidly and convincingly, but the real star is Tunis Police Chief Yigal Naor who plays a wonderfully menacing part very well even though he bears an uncanny resemblance to Telly Savalas! The setting in Tunis is about as neutral as the writers could manage, and I suspect that many Americans will not even know that Tunis is in Morroco, it is never mentioned.This is a bit of a problem because some unknown jihadists are plotting explosions there and so the geo political motivations are lost.

Reese Witherspoon, as the suspects wife, does wifey quite well , but despite her pregnant state she is really just ersatz window dressing.The vanity of wearing 3 inch high heels when supposedly nine months pregnant was quite amusing. Its Meryl Streep who really has fun with her role as a CIA Director, Corrine Whitman. More than a cameo, less than a lead, she shines in every scene she is in.

So where does it go wrong? Bowing under the weight of great ambition, the ending is terribly perfunctory, and unlikely. Ironically the "need" to find ways to effectively interrogate terrorists isn't done justice, and the basis for the evidence which gets Ibrahami into trouble is never really explained.

Although America has a lot of waking up to do about the world around it, the criticism of rendition comes across as being a bit weedy liberal in the final analysis.

Better than "The Kingdom", a decent step into the world of international affairs for Hollywood