The Tepid Torture
posted on Thursday, October 25, 2007 in Movie Reviews
Rendition is ostensibly an “important” movie. It tackles a very complex and very relevant issue of the day, torture, and does it with a powerhouse cast. With Meryl Streep and Alan Arkin involved, the film has a real weighty feel. But don’t be fooled. Rendition is pure fluff.After a terrorist attack, chemical engineer Anwar El-Ibrahimi is abducted by the U.S. government on his way home to his pregnant wife and kid in Chicago. He is sent to a secret prison in North Africa where he is tortured. Meanwhile, his wife goes to Washington and attempts to find out what happened to Anwar.
What follows is a ridiculous straw man argument against torture. The film insults the intelligence of the viewers by reducing this complex issue into insanely manipulative and simplistic terms. The reason Anwar gets taken in the first place is never fully explained. And did his wife have to be pregnant? Did the filmmakers believe that the audience wouldn’t feel enough sympathy for the wife of a victim of torture? Give us a little credit!
There are a few clever storytelling tricks here and there, but that’s all they are: trickery. Smoke and mirrors to distract us from the gaping plot holes. Rendition tries to juggle too many plot lines and character arcs, and it just ends up muddying the film even more. The film is shot competently enough, but it’s nothing to write home about.
The cast, featuring two generations of great talent, is completely squandered. Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Saarsgard, Reese Witherspoon: their mere presence brings a lot to the film, but ultimately, they’re playing one-dimensional characters that don’t give them an opportunity to shine.
It’s a real waste. What could’ve been a serious examination of current U.S. policy ends up being just another mediocre Hollywood film.
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