Rendition

Your typical political drama/thriller, Rendition is cut from the same cloth as Babel with an all star ensemble cast and a storyline that crosses borders.

When a pregnant Isabella’s (Reese Witherspoon) husband, the Egyptian-born Anwar (Omar Metwally) does not return from a business trip abroad, she enlists the help of college classmate and senator’s aide Alan (Peter Sarsgaard) to dig deeper into his disappearance. What they don’t know is that Anwar has been labelled a terrorist and has been hauled off to North Africa for torture and questioning on behalf of the US, under the watch of new CIA agent Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhall). With government officials sanctioning the torture and denying knowledge of Anwar, Isabella is caught in a tangled web of politics and patriotism.

A great ensemble cast with stand-out performances by meryl Streep and PEter Sarsgaard. Gyllenhall seems mis-cast in his role as a CIA agent. Metwally does a fine job as Anwar through the often brutal scenes of torture. Witherspoon is unremarkable, although not bad as the distraught wife while Alan Arkin as the senator is underused. There’ s nothing really fresh about this film and it does pale in comparison to larger politcally charged thrillers like Babel. Often slow at times, the film never really seems to live up to the momentum it is trying to create.

A bit of a let down, Rendition is a worthy watch, although not one that you’d run out to see.