RENDITION
April 26th 2008 03:32
Soon after a terrorist bombing in Egypt, chemical engineer Anwar El–Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) returns home to his American wife, Isabella (Witherspoon), and young son after attending a conference in South Africa. While disembarking, he’s whisked away by US intelligence, and on the orders of Senator Corrine Whitman (Meryl Streep), Anwar is flown to Egypt, where he undergoes systematic brutalisation and interrogation as government agents attempt to discern his possible connections to a known terrorist. At the same time, morally conflicted CIA operative Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhaal) is asked to “observe” the interrogation. Meanwhile, distraught wife Isabella tracks down her former school friend, connected Washington politician Alan Smith (Sarsgaard), and pressures him to help her discover exactly what has happened to her husband and why.
South African helmer Gavin Hood (Tsotsi) competently balances storylines, eliciting strong turns from his powerhouse cast, most notably Gyllenhaal, who delivers a quietly desperate performance as the disillusioned operative. Yet despite its competent execution, Rendition pulls its punches far too often, sapping the immediacy and urgency evident in other dramas of this ilk. So while it admirably shakes its fists at the sky, it sadly lacks the requisite ferocity with which to boil the audience’s blood.
| 75 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
Comment by Harry
Sydney Diary
Personals
Brisbane Diarystar
Zoo Parent