Rendition (2007)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Gavin Hood

Writer (WGA):

Kelley Sane (written by)

Release Date:

19 October 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

What if someone you love...just disappeared?

Plot:

A CIA analyst questions his assignment after witnessing an unorthodox interrogation at a secret detention facility outside the US.

Plot Keywords:

Interrogation | CIA | Egyptian | Suspect | Terrorism

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Omar Metwally	...	Anwar El-Ibrahimi
Reese Witherspoon	...	Isabella Fields El-Ibrahimi
Aramis Knight	...	Jeremy El-Ibrahimi
Rosie Malek-Yonan	...	Nuru El-Ibrahimi
Jake Gyllenhaal	...	Douglas Freeman
Hadar Ratzon	...	Safiya
Moa Khouas	...	Khalid
Zineb Oukach	...	Fatima Fawal
Yigal Naor	...	Abasi Fawal (as Igal Naor)
Laila Mrabti	...	Lina Fawal
David Fabrizio	...	William Dixon
Mounir Margoum	...	Rani
Driss Roukhe	...	Bahi
J.K. Simmons	...	Lee Mayer
Meryl Streep	...	Corrine Whitman

MPAA:

Rated R for torture/violence and language.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Ireland:15A | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:15 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:MA | Denmark:15 | USA:R (certificate #43607) | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Germany:16 | Malaysia:18PL | Hong Kong:IIB | Taiwan:R-12 | Norway:15 | France:Unrated | Portugal:M/16 | Sweden:15 | Finland:K-15 | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Greece:K-17

Filming Locations:

Anaheim Convention Center - 800 W. Katella Avenue, Anaheim, California, USA

Company:

Anonymous Content

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the beginning when Anwar is in Cape Town, South Africa, according to the shadows cast by the men in Anwar's party, it's about 1 pm. He makes a call to Isabella in Chicago, United States when he apologizes for not calling her earlier. Cape Town is 8 hours ahead of Chicago, it would have been pitch dark in Chicago at that time but Isabella is outside in the midday sun playing soccer with Jeremy.

Quotes:

Douglas Freeman: In all the years you've been doing this, how often can you say that we've produced truly legitimate intelligence? Once? Twice? Ten times? Give me a statistic; give me a number. Give me a pie chart, I love pie charts. Anything, anything that outweighs the fact that if you torture one person you create ten, a hundred, a thousand new enemies.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Getaway: (#17.2)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Al Insan

moving and thought-provoking

Imagine you have just been on a plane for 18 hours. You have been on a business trip to South Africa. You are a high-paid professional. You've lived in the US for 20 years. You are in your thirties, you have a wife a little boy and another baby on the way. One thing, even though you have a green card, you are still Egyptian. On transit you are asked to come with 2 security guards, next thing you know you are overpowered, hooded and chained and after a brief ( but still reasonably civil) interrogation you are to be rendered! This is what happens to Anwar el Ibrahimi at the beginning of the movie. His is a story of pain and ( literally )torture. It's one of several story lines. One follows his wife's attempts to get more information. One follows the (cold) bureaucrats behind the rendition. Another story deals with the family of the man who leads the interrogation of Anwar el Ibrahimi. There are some other stories too and by the end they all neatly come together. Though the more famous actors like Reese Witherspoon ( as the distraught pregnant wife ) Jake Gyllenhaal ( as the CIA rookie forced to watch the interrogation in Northern Africa) and Meryl Streep ( as CIA hotshot Corine Whitman) it is really the more unknown actors that carry the story and give it it's heart. For me the actor playing the unfortunate Mr El Ibrahimi ( Omar Metwally ) was the heart and soul of this movie. His portrayal of a man in distress was shockingly well done. It's almost as if he was being tortured for real! Also Israeli actor Yigal Naor was very impressive as the part worried family-man and part extremely cruel chief of torture. Hard to watch and not exactly fun, but still very worthwhile.