Rendition (Cert 15) Cinema Review

12:32pm Sunday 1st June 2008

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RENDITION is the latest in a long series of movies to take a cue from the apprehensions of the post-9/11 world.

Set in Cape Town in Africa, the story unfolds after an American envoy is killed in a terrorist bombing.

An investigation leads to an Egyptian professional, Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) who lives and works in the United States but is in Africa for a business trip.

Authorities find phone calls seemingly connecting Anwar to the terrorist cell responsible and so he is abducted just as he is about to return home to be questioned and tortured.

Back home, Anwar's distraught pregnant wife Isabella (Reese Witherspoon, a little out of her depth) finds little help even from her politician friend Alan Smith (Peter Sarsgaard) as Anwar's guilt or innocence is cloudy and no one wants to put their career on the chopping block.

Meryl Streep, in particular, is perfectly cast as the cold politician working from a cushy office willing to have a man's rights abused for results.

The strength of Rendition is the way that it shows that the post 9/11 culture has turned us all into victims and it goes some way in showing the personal impact of terrorism for all involved.

Anwar's guilt or innocence also remains ambiguous throughout so credit goes to the filmmakers for leaving it open to interpretation.

Guilty or innocent, it's up to you, the viewer, to decide whether torture is ever justified.

7/10 Intriguing