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Ever since America was attacked on 9/11, there have been numerous political issues and debates that have risen from the ashes. Not far behind it, a
score of both fictional and non-fictional films have brought forth a new brand of political intrigue in Hollywood, often in thought-provoking ways. Rendition keeps up with the trend by using an all-star cast to deliver an in-your-face look at terrorism and the use of torture to interrogate potential human threats. Unfortunately, it trips on its own intentions, rendering itself from a potential great film into just a good one.

Isabella (Reese Witherspoon) grows weary when her Egyptian-born husband Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) doesn't show up at the baggage claim after his flight out of South Africa.  As she travels to Washington D.C. to look into her loved one's vanishing, a C.I.A analyst (Jake Gyllenhaal) is trying
to figure out if the same man is actually a terrorist threat.  As Omar is being questioned by the unconventional methods of Abasi Fawal (Igal Naor),
the answers that Omar may or may not provide effect not just the personal and professional motives of the people involved with his case, but in how
America will respond to a deadly terrorist attack that killed one of their own.

Rendition has all the elements to provide for an engrossing and informative film, but falls too much in love with the point it is trying to get across. As a whole, the film draws you in and keeps you guessing about what is going to happen, but there are just enough scenes where the dialogue and situations become too preachy and take you out of the story completely. Whether or not you take a liberal or conservative stance on Rendition's subject is not the issue, it's that the filmmakers are clumsily apparent about how they feel instead of challenging the viewer to make up his or her mind.

Instead of staying focused on an initial strong plot, Rendition falls into the trap of too many main characters and storylines.  Because there are so
many elements going on, you don't get to spend a lot of time with the characters, thus making it hard to connect with them on a deeper level. eter Sarsgaard, Alan Arkin, and the other all-star cast are good in their roles but get shown up by the acting abilities of the relatively unknown foreign cast.  Also, good talent is wasted as Meryl Streep's C.I.A. director is made out to be too villainous and Reese Witherspoon's portrayal of a desperate wife is too sympathetic.

For tackling subjects like terrorism and interrogative torture, Rendition does a good job in not reveling in its content.  There is some strong language here and there, but it mainly gets its R-rating due to quick violent images and the torture scenes.  Although the torture scenes are not necessarily easy to view and feature some backside male nudity, I thought that they were necessary to support the story and it never crossed the line of being too unbearable to watch.  You won't have an awful time seeing Rendition and will probably get caught up in the story, but nobody likes to be told how to think.  If the filmmakers had avoided that mistake, I would've been more enlightened than put out.  I give Rendition 3 out of 5 "disappearances."

Nathan Chandler for The Mungles on Movies (10/18/07)

Review copyright 2007 Mungleshow Productions. Used by Permission.