Rendition (2007)

Director:

Gavin Hood

Writer (WGA):

Kelley Sane (written by)

Release Date:

19 October 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

What if someone you love...just disappeared?

Plot:

A CIA analyst questions his assignment after witnessing an unorthodox interrogation at a secret detention facility outside the US.

Plot Keywords:

Interrogation | CIA | Egyptian | Terrorist | Terrorism

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Omar Metwally	...	Anwar El-Ibrahimi
Reese Witherspoon	...	Isabella Fields El-Ibrahimi
Aramis Knight	...	Jeremy El-Ibrahimi
Rosie Malek-Yonan	...	Nuru El-Ibrahimi
Jake Gyllenhaal	...	Douglas Freeman
Hadar Ratzon	...	Safiya
Moa Khouas	...	Khalid El-Emin
Zineb Oukach	...	Fatima Fawal
Yigal Naor	...	Abasi Fawal (as Igal Naor)
Laila Mrabti	...	Lina Fawal
David Fabrizio	...	William Dixon
Mounir Margoum	...	Rani
Driss Roukhe	...	Bahi
J.K. Simmons	...	Lee Mayer
Meryl Streep	...	Corrine Whitman

MPAA:

Rated R for torture/violence and language.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:15A | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:15 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:MA | Denmark:15 | USA:R (certificate #43607) | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Germany:16 | Malaysia:18PL | Hong Kong:IIB | Taiwan:R-12 | Norway:15 | France:Unrated | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:15 | Finland:K-15 | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Greece:K-17

Filming Locations:

Anaheim Convention Center - 800 W. Katella Avenue, Anaheim, California, USA

Company:

Anonymous Content

Goofs:

Factual errors: During the scene where Abasi Fawal is watching the footage of the bombing on Al Jazerra, the news crawl in Arabic on the bottom of the TV is moving left-to-right (as it does when there is a news crawl in English). However, the crawl should move right-to-left, since Arabic is read right to left.

Quotes:

Corrine Whitman: Honey, this is nasty business. There are upwards of 7,000 people in central London alive tonight, because of information that we elicited just this way. So maybe you can put your head on your pillow and feel proud for saving one man while 7,000 perish, but I got grandkids in London, so I'm glad I'm doing this job... and you're not.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The O'Reilly Factor: (2008-04-02)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Nous-Nous

Just Not Enough

Making the movie Rendition was a very good idea and addresses an important problem that is occurring today. This movie though does fall short. It did not have the juice that Lions for Lambs or the shocking portrayals of a documentary.

The acting was for me below average. Reese Witherspoon looked her part and played the way she needed to as a pregnant mother who's husband has been kidnapped. I cannot say the same for the others though. Merryl Streep just annoyed me in this movie. She played as a top employee of the CIA (I think) who gives out the order of torturing someone, but the way she played her role was just so cliché and unoriginal she did not bring anything special that she usually does in other movies. She actually ruined this movie. Then there was Alan Arkin, he played very well but there is just one problem he was in the movie for about as long he is in the advertisements. He did show you what a senator does do but not enough. Peter Sarsgaard did have a very good chance to shine in here but he did not get enough screen time. He was the key to this movie and he just did not have the chance to inspire or perform the way he could have. Jake Gyllenhall who did was just there. I'm not really sure what he was supposed to do in this movie but just stand there. I think he is an overrated an actor and showed that in here. Yigal Noar who played the father looking for his daughter could as well have really had an impact on this movie but just did not. The two actors who played lovers really did not bring enough of an emphasis to there characters at all and it just fell short like the rest of this movie. Omar Metwally who played the man being tortured gave the best performance out of all of these actors.

The directing and writing was poor in Rendition. Gavin Hood and the writer are the main reason why this movie fell short in every aspect. They did not give too much meaning in this movie and did not develop the character in a efficient way. Probably the lack of development of the characters ruined this movie the most. That is why the acting was not too great. How could you write a story like this and not explain who these characters are and why they do the things they do. That is how you explain why people are terrorists, CIA agents, etc. Without that this is a horrible political movie and political statement. This movie does not even tell you the job positions of the Merrly Streep and Yigal Noar who are very important here. This movie needed to be much longer in order to truly push the message of the story forward but it just turned out to be a battle for screen time between the stars of Hollywood. Not enough clarity. Not enough development of characters, not enough reasoning and just too short.