It was a no-brainer that I would rent Rendition when it came out. Anything with Reese Witherspoon is on my radar, since I first saw her lighting up the screen in Man in the Moon as a young girl. Add in Jake Gyllenhaal who is not so hard on the eyes, and the plot could just about not matter. However, Rendition not only has a plot, but it is a thought-provoking piece of cinema, that had me pondering issues well beyond my viewing.

Basic Premise
Perhaps you've never heard of the United States policy on extraordinary rendition; such was certainly the case for the fictional El-Ibrahimi's of Chicago, as played by Reese Witherspoon and Omar Metwally. When Anwar El-Ibrahimi is returning from a business trip abroad he is taken by someone as he disembarks from his plane, for suspicion of terrorism. He is then flown from the United States to a cooperating country for interrogation. The benefit, if you will, of such a policy is that these cooperating countries have much looser views on human rights and therefore can use means such as torture and humiliation to supposedly extract vital information.

El-Ibrahimi is exposed to a good deal of torture and humiliation under the supervision of a reluctant CIA agent Douglas Freeman, as played by Jake Gyllenhaal and at the hands of a local "specialist", Abasi Fawal played by Yigal Naor . Freeman is thrust into his role as an unwitting, and ultimately unwilling, interrogation of El-Ibrahimi by the demise of his superior in a separate and often confusing plotline of local violence involving Abasi's daughter Fatima and her fundamentalist/terrorist boyfriend Khalid. He wrestles morally with the "rightness" of this technique. This is not for the faint of heart, as some of the degradation and torture, though fictional, is disturbing to watch.

I don't want to give away the entire plot, but suffice it to say, that there is action, a few twists and turns, and more than a whiff of governmental cover-up.

Cast
There is quite a lot of back story going on in Rendition, and as is often the case when a film tries to cover too much, something falls short. Streep's character is quite underused, though powerfully played. Witherspoon is as always, riveting on film, but despite top billing, not used much, and Gyllenhaal's hesitant CIA operative is well acted, but could have benefited greatly from the dvd's deleted scenes which really fleshed out his motives.

DVD Features
Deleted Scenes
As I just mentioned, the deleted scenes featured would have been quite helpful to the Gyllenhaal-Freeman character, going into his relationship with a local woman and helping to explain some of his personality traits.

Alternate Ending
The dvd does feature an alternate ending and I can see why it ended up on the cutting room floor. It does not lend itself to the story at all.

Documentary on Extraordinary Rendition
This was a brief, and fascinating documentary which details the beginnings of the "rendition" policy and influenced the film's creators. It is well worth a watch to see how a policy created for one intention, has been exploited with our post-9/11 fears, into something truly terrifying. The documentary features interviews and journal entries of actual victims of the rendition policy, as well as an interview with Clinton's advisor on the policy.

All In All
I would call Rendition an average film of three stars worthy of a viewing. It will keep your attention, the action is good, although at times disturbing. I am definitely bumping it up to a four-star rating due to the brief, but gripping documentary film on the Rendition policy, which is really must-see film-making.

Complete Cast:
Jake Gyllenhaal - Douglas Freeman
Alan Arkin - Senator Hawkins
Omar Metwally - Anwar El-Ibrahimi
Moa Khouas - Khalid
Meryl Streep - Corrinne Whitman
Reese Witherspoon - Isabella El-Ibrahimi
Peter Sarsgaard - Alan Smith
Yigal Naor - Abasi Fawal
Zineb Oukach - Fatima



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age