A lot of publicity has surrounded the stars of “Rendition,” the new film from director Gavin Hood.
Curiously enough, it’s not the performances of Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal that hold this movie together and make it such a powerful film.
“Rendition” is a chilling and gripping look at America affected with post-9/11 paranoia.
Following a terrorist attack in North Africa, Egyptian-born Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally, “Munich”) essentially disappears on a flight from South Africa to the United States, his home. His detainment and imprisonment is ordered by Corrine Whitman (Meryl Streep), a CIA official invoking the practice of extraordinary rendition, the transfer of terrorist suspects to other countries where they may be tortured.
El-Ibrahimi’s American wife, Isabella (Reese Witherspoon), travels to Washington to ask her ex-boyfriend (Peter Sarsgaard, “Garden State,” “Jarhead”), who works for a senator (Alan Arkin) to help her find the reason for her husband’s disappearance.
While El-Ibrahimi is tortured at a secret detention facility somewhere outside the United States on suspicion of connection to the terrorist attack. CIA analyst Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhaal) questions his job and CIA methods as he observes the interrogation of El-Ibrahimi.
“Rendition” can be difficult to watch at times, and may even provoke anger at the sight of the unethical treatment and torture of an innocent man. But the film’s message is necessary to hear, lest we as Americans let 9/11 transform us into the paranoid monsters we see depicted in the film.
Although the movie’s publicity material would have you believe that the beautiful duo of Reese and Jake hold this movie together; that is simply untrue. Both Witherspoon and Gyllenhaal give solid performances, particularly Witherspoon, but neither presents the audience with an unforgettable character.
Witherspoon’s role would have been grating and melodramatic in the hands of another actress, but Witherspoon proves she is capable of a truly dramatic role in the film.
Gyllenhaal is decent, giving a stoic and affected performance. But he just seems replaceable, as though any actor could have done an equal job in the role.
If anyone is going to the movie looking for chemistry as evidence of a Reese and Jake hookup, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Though a big deal has been made of their potential on-set romance, the two are never on-screen at the same time. Their characters aren’t even aware of one another.
The real backbone of this film are the performances from Omar Metwally and Meryl Streep. Metwally’s performance is Oscar-worthy as he portrays the wrongly accused family man with a heart-wrenching realism. Metwally is captivating and affecting while not playing the role over the top. He deserves every bit of attention he may garner for his portrayal.
Streep gives a performance that is at the opposite end of the spectrum from Metwally. Equally talented, Streep plays her role with a quiet, cold reservation. A glance from Streep is spine tingling and her orders are blood boiling. She is a CIA Cruella DeVille and audiences will eat it up.
Essentially, this film has all the performance power you would expect from a movie that stars a plethora of Academy Award winners like Streep, Arkin and Witherspoon. Every role is competently realized and realistically carried through. Plus, J.K. Simmons has a small role, and that always means a good time at the movies.
Director Gavin Hood and writer Kelley Sane exhibit fine work with this film, deftly combining a lesson in current government affairs with an intriguing subplot involving North African natives entangled with the terrorist plot and interrogation of El-Ibrahimi. Hood even executes a plot twist that comes at just the right point in the film and will leave you piecing the film together in your mind for days.
“Rendition” is eye-opening and fascinating, while managing to portray an emotional heart at its core.
