RENDITION
RENDITION |
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An Egyptian-American is spirited to North Africa when suspected of terrorist activity. The CIA knows the score, though no one thought to tell his wife. | score 3+ |
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| Cast Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep, Reece Witherspoon, Peter Saarsgaard, Omar Metwally Director Gavin Hood Screenwriter Kelley Sane Country USA Rating / Running Time MA / 120 minutes Australian Release February 2008 Official Site (c) moviereview
2006-2008
ABN 72 775 390 361 |
While
it’s easy to scoff at Corrinne Whitman’s claim that
the US doesn’t torture people, the CIA chief is right. They have
other nations do it for them. One such is in North Africa where agent
Freeman (Gyllenhaal) is supervising the extraordinary rendition, and
torture, of an Egyptian-born American suspected of terrorist collusion.
Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Metwally) has been snatched from an inbound flight
and spirited into detention that recalls Mamdouh Habib in the worst way
possible. A timely release from the CIA recently conceded they had twice authorised the banned practice of ‘water-boarding’, though Hood’s film is clear that their proxy agents have never been shy of extracting information through any means possible. Often with pleasure once a story changes, as Freeman and Ibrahimi learn in gruesome, painful close-up. This provocative film weaves several threads; that of Ibrahimi’s anxious American wife (Witherspoon) who seeks her missing husband through deaf political channels; of the Arab prosecutor’s daughter who unintentionally becomes mixed up with a terrorist cell, and the core relationship between Freeman and Ibrahimi. The film cuts and recuts across international locations in the fashionable style as Hood gains heartfelt performances from Streep, Gyllenhaal and notably Reese Witherspoon. Rendition is challenging, elegant and morally decent, yet for all its earnest goodness, there’s a glossiness that undermines the film’s energy, shackling it to a notion of Syriana-lite. Hood treads dangerously close to even-handed polemic but a dramatic punch in the closing scene redeems the weaker moments and an irritatingly unresolved raîson-d’étre. If flawed, Rendition is still a thrilling and important contribution to the current crop of post-9/11, ‘how the hell did we get here?’ titles. // COLIN FRASER |