Rendition

Rendition **1/2

Directed by Gavin Hood
Written by Kelley Sane

Starring:
Reese Witherspoon as Isabella Fields El-Ibrahimi
Jake Gyllenhaal as Douglas Freeman
Meryl Streep as Corrine Whitman
Alan Arkin as Senator Hawkins
Aramis Knight as Jeremy El-Ibrahimi
Omar Metwally as Anwar El-Ibrahimi
David Fabrizio as William Dixon
J.K. Simmons as Lee Mayer
Peter Sarsgaard as Alan Smith

120 Minutes(Rated R for torture/violence and language. )
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"Rendition" reminded me of a line in that Talking Heads song "Psycho Killer." "Say something once, why say it again?" which is exactly how I felt by the end of this film-a political film that has a lot to say, but nothing very new or innovative. I have the sneaking suspicion that the people behind this movie felt they were making something a little more important than it ended up being, and on the whole "Rendition" turned out to be a rather mediocre political thriller-and if your looking for something to test your brain, entertain, and be filled with immense talent on all corners, stick with 'Michael Clayton"-which I'm sure we'll hear from again next January. "Rendition" should, and will, fade into the dust. Billing Reese Witherspoon as the lead star was also a bad idea, as she is in about twenty five percent of the movie. Her last real scene of talking occurs when there is about thirty minutes left, but then again the top billing actor couldn't have been an unknown named Omar Metwally. I have another feeling that the five main stars here are all here because it would have been a hard sell without them.

"Rendition" has Reese as Isabella Fields El-Ibrahimi, a pregnant mother and wife to Anwar El-Ibrahimi, who coming home from a business trip is taken by the United States government while he is leaving the airport, and all his information is deleted from the records. He vanishes. He is in fact a suspect of a terrorist attack, and becomes a victim of "rendition," where the United States ships a person overseas where they could do whatever brutal exercises they wish to get information they need. A CIA analyst named Douglas Freeman, played flat by Jake Gyllenhaal, is having reservations about what they are doing to the man, and when talking to a superior he declares, in the films best line, "Sorry, this is my first torture." Convinced that her husband is still alive, Isabella flies to Washington and asks help from Alan Smith, an old friend and aid to a senator-played by Alan Arkin.

There is also a plot involving someone in the North African country where the terrorist attack ends up taking place, and this seems to be a bit of a random thread, even though by the end it makes sense how it fits into the whole piece. But this storyline seemed to make this movie want to be "Babel," trying to connect several people from all over the world. But instead of actually exerting emotion and being expertly made, "Rendition" really takes its stand on the issue at hand in the most obvious ways possible. There is not a subtle bone in this films body-this movie is telling us it does not agree with American policies all the time. There was a "shape up" message in last months "In the Valley of Elah,' another film that was not subtle about what it wanted to say, but that was bordered by great performances and actually emotion. I could not care about anybody in this movie because everyone was so one dimensional. Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal are two quite good actors usually, but here they are flat. I almost don't blame the actors considering how underdeveloped their characters are in the script-both of them barely given any screen time to make any heads or tails about them. The character played by Meryl Streep is also hardly used, and there is now two sides to her-she is just plain rude and cruel. A better film would have given several sides to her, no matter what the films message is. Alan Arkin is quite good, and I wish there was more of him, and Peter Sarsgaard does some good work, but the problem is there is not enough of them.

The story does start out quite good, but that's before it ends up taking simple turns at every corner. The movie was just too easy, being very "in your face" about the issues at hands. It's underwritten and underdone, and maybe less time on that other story in North Africa, and more time developing the central characters. This is a forgettable Oscar baited film, and it's a shame because director Gavin Hood's last movie was the very good "Tsotsi." Maybe he should stay out of Hollywood. There is a reason why this was given a straight out wide release instead of being built up over the rest of the fall.