RENDITION

Rendition is a 2007 political suspense thriller that attempts to expose the CIA practice of extraordinary rendition, the kidnapping of people and sending them to countries where they can be tortured and abused in interrogations. The film is based on the true story of Khalid El-Masri.

Reece Witherspoon plays U.S. citizen Isabella Fields El-Ibrahimi, a pregnant wife and mother who attempts to find the whereabouts of her husband Anwar (Omar Metwally). Anwar, an Egyptian-born engineer who now resides in Chicago, mysteriously disappears when returning from a conference he attended in South Africa. Unbeknownst to Isabella, Anwar was detained under the direction of CIA superior Corrine Whitman (Meryl Streep), who believed that Anwar had connections with a terrorist named Rashid. While detained, Anwar is tortured under the supervision of Whitman’s liaison, local North African police official Fawal (Yigal Naor). Observing this torturous interrogation is CIA analyst Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhaal), who at first is ambivalent to Anwar’s interrogation but who eventually begins to doubt his guilt or association with terrorist Rashid.

The subject matter is well worth dissecting, but this film isn’t the one to do that. Unfortunately, writer Kelley Sane decided to include a parallel plotline involving Fawal’s daughter, Fatima. She runs away from home (and the pre-arranged marriage set up for her) to be with her boyfriend, who she does not know is part of an emerging terrorist group. This subplot is intended to close a broader “full circle”, tying the introduction of the film to the conclusion, but it was simply distracting and prevented the central story from being all it might have been.

There is some outstanding acting. Omar Metwally as the victim of this governmental overreach is magnificent as he descends from a man who knows his rights to a prisoner who isn’t sure he even wants to stay alive. Streep and Naor do their best with their Dick Cheney-esque type torture-loving “patriots”. That said, there are also some pallid characterizations. Jake Gyllenhaal is fairly vacuous in his role as the novice agent who questions moral principles, and Reece Witherspoon is just painfully miscast. Some blame can be rested on the direction of Gavin Hood. There are many scenes where the characters don’t respond in ways that would be appropriate at all given the circumstances. The film’s final scene, back in Chicago, is bizarre in every way. This film is one that could have been pithier under different care and direction. That said, Rendition is better than it deserves to be because of the clout of most of its casting. It’s not horrible, but it’s not spectacular either.