Rendition
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List Price: $14.98
Our Price: $3.39
Your Save: $ 11.59 ( 77% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon, Alan Arkin, Yigal Naor
Directed By: Gavin Hood
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Average Customer Rating:   
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Rendition
EAN: 0794043112928
Format: Closed-captioned
Label: New Line Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: New Line Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-02-19
Running Time: 122
Studio: New Line Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: "I fear you speak upon the rack ,Where men enforced do speak anything"-Shakespeare
Comment: A detailed review of this movie might ruin the pleasure of discovering how each character makes the choice between acting morally or simply walking away and doing nothing.
The movie elucidates legal rendition used by the United States, where suspects are taken into US custody but delivered to a third-party state. Torture by proxy is the most abhorrent form of torture, because it frees you from direct involvement in what is being done to another person.
Since 9/11, the CIA has reportedly launched an investigation into such cases of "erroneous rendition" where suspects were subject to rendition, confessed to crimes they didn't commit and were later found to be innocent civilians.
The subject of rendition in this movie is a wrongfully accused Egyptian born engineer (Omar Metwally), who lives in the United States with his wife (Reese Witherspoon) and child.
For the first time in his life, CIA analyst Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhaal) watches this torture, led by Fawal (Yiqal Naor, who gracefully played Saddam Husain in "House of Saddam"), and chooses to take a moral stand despite his boss's disapproval. At the same time, in juxtaposition to the torture event, a young suicide bomber, under the powerful control of a terrorist group, makes his own moral choice.
Great performances and a great story, enhanced by the presence of Meryl Streep and Yiqal Naor. Some might find the idea of a CIA member standing up to his bosses or a suicide bomber saying no to his recruiters incredible. In real life both people might not survive, but I believe that some hope still exist and the duty of the director and the movie is to propose the possibility of hope.
Is the idea of hero who dares to change things, merely a dream? Perhaps, but it's a grand dream!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking
Comment: Though this political thriller makes its sympathies clear from the outset, it raises numerous issues that will make you think about the policies a democracy should condone in the name of fighting terror. It's not as black and white as it may seem to either side in the torture debate. The script here is intelligent, the acting very fine and much of the dialogue is in subtitles, lending some authenticity, even if the trick is becoming more and more of a film cliche. This is a very taut drama. Watch it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A film that did very little with a lot of (potential) material.
Comment: "Rendition" sheds light on the outrageous policy of extraordinary rendition, a policy that allows the U.S. government to detain persons of interest with no formal warrant or explanation. The plot of the film has been well-explained by other reviewers, so I won't go into that. This film had so much potential to bring forth new, compelling information about rendition, but failed to do so. Instead, it succombed to typical Hollywood theatrics. I suppose it's still worth a viewing, though, if you want to learn the basics of this outrageous policy.
What's much more worthy of attention is the documentary "Outlawed", which is featured in the special features on this disc. "Outlawed" tells the story of a German man who was captured and detained for nearly 5 years. In those five years, he was transported between several "underground" prisons in several different locations around the world. The documentary is a long interview with the man recalling his nightmare experience. It is truly riveting. I wept openly when first I saw it.
All in all, the film is a disappointment, but, as I've mentioned, the documentary included in the special features is superb.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not vintage Meryl Streep
Comment: I am always interested in Meryl Streep. Her name was listed in a way suggesting she was a principal player. She is not.
This DVD will give you about 10 minutes of a character type that does not allow Streep to display her range of acting talent.
There are many other reviews which address the question of the use of interogation techniques in fighting terrorists and I don't wish to add another. This is not a "war" movie which will bring the country together.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking film
Comment: Some interesting twists in this one!
The acting is well done. The story is more political than I expected but is worth watching. Character portrayal seems genuine although harsh as probably it needs to be to depict the real world.
The film seems one sided at times as you are pulled into the situation the pregnant wife is facing waiting for for news about her husband after missing from an international trip.
There are no right or wrong answers here. Those in charge are guarded about what they are doing and those who can help are reluctant to risk their careers by getting involved.
For the viewer, who is not really sure if the captive is guilty or innocent, it's important to see things from both sides. The tactics are considered legal to fight terrorism but what if the suspect is innocent of the charges?
There is a related thread that does not connect until quite late in the film. I had to keep wondering how that story line was related to the main topic - then the surprise ending... and it all comes together.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: "I fear you speak upon the rack ,Where men enforced do speak anything"-Shakespeare
Comment: A detailed review of this movie might ruin the pleasure of discovering how each character makes the choice between acting morally or simply walking away and doing nothing.
The movie elucidates legal rendition used by the United States, where suspects are taken into US custody but delivered to a third-party state. Torture by proxy is the most abhorrent form of torture, because it frees you from direct involvement in what is being done to another person.
Since 9/11, the CIA has reportedly launched an investigation into such cases of "erroneous rendition" where suspects were subject to rendition, confessed to crimes they didn't commit and were later found to be innocent civilians.
The subject of rendition in this movie is a wrongfully accused Egyptian born engineer (Omar Metwally), who lives in the United States with his wife (Reese Witherspoon) and child.
For the first time in his life, CIA analyst Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhaal) watches this torture, led by Fawal (Yiqal Naor, who gracefully played Saddam Husain in "House of Saddam"), and chooses to take a moral stand despite his boss's disapproval. At the same time, in juxtaposition to the torture event, a young suicide bomber, under the powerful control of a terrorist group, makes his own moral choice.
Great performances and a great story, enhanced by the presence of Meryl Streep and Yiqal Naor. Some might find the idea of a CIA member standing up to his bosses or a suicide bomber saying no to his recruiters incredible. In real life both people might not survive, but I believe that some hope still exist and the duty of the director and the movie is to propose the possibility of hope.
Is the idea of hero who dares to change things, merely a dream? Perhaps, but it's a grand dream!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking
Comment: Though this political thriller makes its sympathies clear from the outset, it raises numerous issues that will make you think about the policies a democracy should condone in the name of fighting terror. It's not as black and white as it may seem to either side in the torture debate. The script here is intelligent, the acting very fine and much of the dialogue is in subtitles, lending some authenticity, even if the trick is becoming more and more of a film cliche. This is a very taut drama. Watch it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A film that did very little with a lot of (potential) material.
Comment: "Rendition" sheds light on the outrageous policy of extraordinary rendition, a policy that allows the U.S. government to detain persons of interest with no formal warrant or explanation. The plot of the film has been well-explained by other reviewers, so I won't go into that. This film had so much potential to bring forth new, compelling information about rendition, but failed to do so. Instead, it succombed to typical Hollywood theatrics. I suppose it's still worth a viewing, though, if you want to learn the basics of this outrageous policy.
What's much more worthy of attention is the documentary "Outlawed", which is featured in the special features on this disc. "Outlawed" tells the story of a German man who was captured and detained for nearly 5 years. In those five years, he was transported between several "underground" prisons in several different locations around the world. The documentary is a long interview with the man recalling his nightmare experience. It is truly riveting. I wept openly when first I saw it.
All in all, the film is a disappointment, but, as I've mentioned, the documentary included in the special features is superb.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not vintage Meryl Streep
Comment: I am always interested in Meryl Streep. Her name was listed in a way suggesting she was a principal player. She is not.
This DVD will give you about 10 minutes of a character type that does not allow Streep to display her range of acting talent.
There are many other reviews which address the question of the use of interogation techniques in fighting terrorists and I don't wish to add another. This is not a "war" movie which will bring the country together.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Thought provoking film
Comment: Some interesting twists in this one!
The acting is well done. The story is more political than I expected but is worth watching. Character portrayal seems genuine although harsh as probably it needs to be to depict the real world.
The film seems one sided at times as you are pulled into the situation the pregnant wife is facing waiting for for news about her husband after missing from an international trip.
There are no right or wrong answers here. Those in charge are guarded about what they are doing and those who can help are reluctant to risk their careers by getting involved.
For the viewer, who is not really sure if the captive is guilty or innocent, it's important to see things from both sides. The tactics are considered legal to fight terrorism but what if the suspect is innocent of the charges?
There is a related thread that does not connect until quite late in the film. I had to keep wondering how that story line was related to the main topic - then the surprise ending... and it all comes together.
Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal and Meryl Streep star in this nail- biting thriller about a man who mysteriously disappears on a flight from South Africa to Washington DC and the government conspiracy put in place to cover it up.
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