Review of Rendition (2007) by Sean B — 04 Nov 2010

A failure and a cheat of a movie that suffers from unimaginative acting from its stars, formulaic writing and a gobsmacking cheat of a twist that reeks of desperation. One by one: fronting a movie with Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal is about as effective and advisable as an armless tag team in wrestling. Uninspired, mundane and pedestrian are just the first words that come to mind in relation to their performances. Not helped is the fact that they don't DO anything. NO ONE IN THIS MOVIE DOES ANYTHING THAT REALLY MATTERS. Sure they TRY, just not very hard. It is stunning and irresponsible, given the very, very real damage that very real EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION does and has done to very real people.

The real shocker in terms of acting is that the other big names (barring J.K. Simmons, who hardly gets any screen time but is, as usual, good) also largely fall flat. Alan Arkin could be edited out of the movie and no one would notice, Peter Sarsgaard belies the fact that he was at one time one of the most promising actors of his generation as he goes through the motions, and Meryl Streep - yes, Meryl Streep - puts in the effort but it is all on the surface and the kind of stuff we've seen b4 on - wait for it - TV's '24'. The non-Anglo cast of non-stars however are largely riveting, especially Yigal Naor, who has played Saddam on TV and Saddam's top general in the woefully under-appreciated actioner 'Green Zone'.

The writing is the other weak spot. It broaches no new ground, and actually pushes the 'rendition' plot into subplot, since nothing significant happens here to move the plot forward. The real emotional crux of the film is with the Egyptian security head (Yigal Naor) and his daughter, and this is where the film commits the ultimate fallacy. I started to suspect just b4 the unveiling, b'cos of the uncertain way passage of time was presented. But it is only at the big 'twist' that you realize the whole thing is non-linear, which makes it a stunningly manipulative gimmick. In the seconds leading up to it I dismissed what my gut was saying, knowing that only a complete idiot who knew that his film lacked any sort of emotional heft would resort to such a low and underhanded tactic. Alas, this is such a film.