Rendition (2007)

Good, gripping movie

This was definitely a typical Hollywood portrayal of torture and rendition that I'm sure has gone on. I'm also sure that when authorities are out looking for suspects and leads, they undoubtedly come upon some that are false. I don't think they s/b tortured, but they shouldn't be given rights as US citizens either. I think this movie portrays the exception - a person who's been in the US for 20 years. What should be done? In this case he s/h/b brought in for questioning and detained. then released and watched. For others that have been caught like bin Ladens driver with missiles in the car, they should be imprisoned like he was. August 8, 2008

Typical mindless liberal nonsense.

Typical left wing "Hate America first" moive.
It is all our fault terrorists hate us.
There were not terrorists before Bush etc...

Save you money and get the same BS from the kook liberal blogs.
July 26, 2008

If you think torture's a good idea, follow through your own logic

I was pleasantly surprised by Rendition. Sure, the film is political, and many will feel annoyed at the coverage. But, when you think about it, the torture in the movie "isn't that bad". In other words, if you buy Cheney's POV, then this is the least you could expect to happen - a bit of waterboarding. Is it pleasant to watch? No. But then, again if you agree with Dick, it shouldn't matter much, should it? Why raise a fuss?

What I liked about the movie is that it didn't shirk at showing the arguments _for_ torture. Merry Streep's much more convincing when she states "we saved 7000 people with those kinds of methods, a few months back" than her character in Lions For Lambs. Simple, to the point.

And some of the Islamists are shown to be pretty ugly-minded folks as well, not much deserving of sympathy.

The flip side? Well, the torturee confesses to something he didn't do (wouldn't you, to make it stop?) and the suicide bomber is initially motivated by his own brother's death at the hands of the secret police. The locale seems to be Morocco or Algeria, some Francophone place with heavy anti Islamic repression.

So all in all Rendition does a good job of presenting the fairly complex moral context in which this type of torture is being used. Too bad there is no real way to dress it up as an ethical choice, innit? The Gestapo was famous for waterboarding, btw, so be careful which moral side you pick and remember that it costs, heavily, in public relations. Remember also that, if torture really won wars, more countries would be doing it.

Movie-wise, the end twist was neat. But I could have done without the Reese Witherspoon pregnancy tearjerker. And Jake's character's actions were a bit hard to believe in. July 19, 2008

"The Fight Over 'Rendition'...Has to Be Water-tight!"

You have to go out on a limb reviewing `Rendition'. It makes political points, but it asks relevant questions. Liberals, undoubtedly, will enjoy the import of the film which takes issue with tortured suspects interrogated in foreign lands. Conservatives will take issue with some of the tactics and hand wringing that goes into these procedures, yet it must be stated there are some balances within the film. The most relevant questions have to do with plausibility. Is this a believable and watchable viewing experience? It is, but with some reservations.

The film brings us to three major fronts. In Chicago, Egyptian born Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) has called home, informing his wife Isabella (Reese Witherspoon) when to pick him up from the air port. He is returning from South Africa on a business trip as a chemical consultant. Meanwhile, in an unnamed country in Northern Africa, a terrorist bombs a café where artist Khalid El-Emir (Moa Khouas) is meeting with his girlfriend, Fatima. Her father is at that café, but so are C.I.A. operatives Dixon (operative head) and his young sidekick, Douglas (Jake Gyllenhaal). During the bomb blast Dixon is killed in their car as a dazed and bloodstained Douglas gets to safety and is appointed temporary head of the operation.

In Washington D.C. Anwar makes his last connecting flight home, when he is suddenly detained, hand-cuffed, and interrogated by Lee Mayer (J.K. Simmons). Even more tough minded is official Corrine Whitman (Meryl Streep) who ensures Anwar remains extradited in Egypt where he's subject to the kind of torture and coercion not allowed on our own borders. His ordeal is grueling to watch, but the scenes of water boarding, electrical torture, and solitary confinement make an emotional appeal to the audience. Expecting soon, Isabella at least has some of her burden removed by an advocate at our nation's capital. A high aide to Senator Hawkins (Alan Arkin), Alan Smith (Peter Sarsgaard) knows Isabella and Anwar and makes an appeal, trying to investigate his strange disappearance. He becomes impotent when confronting a tight lipped Whitman and Hawkins who doesn't want to appear soft on terror.

The weakest link of the movie is not the mistaken identity scenario, which is truly believable, but the method used. Apparently cell phone records were contacted, and officials tell that "maybe" Anwar has a record linking him to the terrorist attack. Of course he does make some calls to relatives, but as traceable as evidence gets, the connection is a little far-fetched.

Despite all the characters presented, 'Rendition' is fairly simple to follow. Don't expect it to be as taxing or confusing as 'Syriana (Full Screen Edition)' or 'Babel'. While the film asks unsettling and controversial questions, it doesn't provide the tension or execution of movies like `The Kite Runner' or `A Mighty Heart'. (The latter film was about the beheading of `Wall Street Journal' reporter Daniel Pearl and may satisfy some who may be skeptical about the ability of Hollywood to balance it's views on terrorism.) Here Corrine Whitman is a stalwart, but with a steely voice she does point out to Alan that their operation saved thousands of lives in the U.K.

Is this film "fair and balanced"? To a point, but it does raise real issues with a treatment that's well acted, decently scripted, and mostly provides a good, plausible movie experience. July 9, 2008

Disturbing

I'm glad that this film was made. The issue covered in this film needs to be made public as many people don't know about `extraordinary rendition' and the ramifications of this government rule. It's maddening to know that you can be taken prisoner and tortured without a court order just because you have a certain name/ appearance.

The torture scenes are indescribably horrific but I suppose they needed to make the film as graphically `real' as possible. What I found most disturbing is that the incident that happened in the film has probably happened to countless people. The only part of the film which I found unbelievable was the ending; I sincerely doubt that there is a `light at the end of the tunnel' in reality.

The film was well-casted and the acting was so powerful, I needed to remind myself that I was watching a film and not a documentary.
July 9, 2008

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