55
Metascore
34 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 60EmpireAngie ErrigoEmpireAngie ErrigoDisappointingly dull given the explosive subject matter, this at least attempts to get a message into the mainstream. An extra star for effort rather than execution.
- 60New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinThe jumping around is as deft as a hippo in a tutu, and the director, Gavin Hood, never finds a rhythm.
- 58Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanRendition certainly makes the case that torture, whatever name it goes under, is indefensible, yet one can agree with that view entirely and still feel that the movie is just a borderline exploitation of what anyone who reads the papers already knows.
- 50VarietyTodd McCarthyVarietyTodd McCarthyBy underplaying the melodrama in the presumed hope of seeming subtle when Kelley Sane’s script is so baldly melodramatic, the “Tsotsi” helmer drains the life out of an obviously explosive subject.
- 50ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThe film's disappointingly black-and-white approach robs characters and situations of badly needed ambiguity.
- 50Village VoiceVillage VoiceUnlike Hood's far more persuasive gangster picture "Tsotsi," Rendition feels generic and lackluster.
- 50Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenIntelligent and well-meaning, Rendition is nevertheless an oversimplified and uneven attempt to arouse righteous indignation among its viewers.
- 50Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsChicago TribuneMichael PhillipsIn Rendition Gyllenhaal is supposed to be the smartest one in the room, yet he’s essentially just a good-looking plodder. And despite its whirligig story machinations, so is Rendition.
- 50Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversWhat a cast, indeed. And what a bust as persuasive drama.
- 50The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasWith a cast this stacked, the performances are predictably strong (particularly from Sarsgaard, whose slow-burning role recalls his work in Shattered Glass), but the first impression they make is the same as the last.