Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
3/4
Rendition review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 07/08/2011
A film I have seen by reading the details on the back of the DVD. I was in for a big surprise. Not only does this have a stellar cast consisting of Meryl Streep (Corrine Whitman), Alan Arkin (Senator Hawkins), Jake Gyllenhall (Douglas Freeman) and Reese Witherspoon (Isabella), but it also has another story within the picture. Omar Metwally as Anwar El-Ibrahimi, was the focus of the film. He did a great job of portraying an innocent Chemical Enginner who was wrongfully accused by the CIA of being linked to a violent organization. The other story is the reason for the bomb explosion/suicide attack at a town in North Africa.
I felt this could have been improved if they were more informative of the locations, time, date and the rest of the details just to prevent any confusion of the …
Rating of
3/4
Strong Acting, Weak Execution
Franz Patrick - wrote on 04/19/2008
It's really too bad it bombed at the box office. Although imperfect due to its many uneven parts, it still has something to say about certain new policies that the United States have had since September 11, 2001. What I did not like most about this film is its all too predictable dabble with time. I thought that was a bit forced, unnecessary and distracting because it makes the audience think of the past hour and a half rather than focus on what is happening or what is going to happen. If one is not into the accuracy of politics presented in this film, there are many fascinating performances here. Jake Gyllenhaal barely said a word, but when he did, he uttered them with so much power and finesse. I think he flourishes when he plays silent characters with dark sides to them. I hope he …
Rating of
2/4
Noble effort but can't quite achieve what it wants
patjohnson76 - wrote on 03/30/2008
This movie has good intentions and wants to deliver home a message - unfortunately it works too hard and tries to weave too many stories into one. There's the main story of the mistaken terrorist going through rendtion, the story of how his wife deals with it at home, the political angle complete with senators, and then the story of what really happened. All stories mean the actors walk around with very serious faces saying very serious dialogue while walking very...seriously. Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin, and Stellen Saarsgard are criminally underused in the political angle, which could have made a good movie on its own. I thought it was pretty funny that Reese Witherspoon's character, who's 9 months pregnant, is walking around in high heels like it's no problem at all. The movie's …
Rating of
2.5/4
Rendition is a timely and tame tale
efrain - wrote on 11/14/2007
In “Rendition” an Egyptian-born chemical engineer, Anwar El-Ibrahimi, is kidnapped while flying home from an overseas business trip, suspected of a terrorist connection and detained in a secret facility outside the U.S. At home, his pregnant wife (Witherspoon) is led in circles by government officials who refuse to acknowledge or comment on her husband’s disappearance. Meanwhile, the CIA analyst (Gyllenhaal) assigned to observe Anwar’s “interrogation” overseas doubts his connection to any terrorist activity.
The movie stands out from others in the same genre with its calm pacing and quiet actors, but perhaps it’s a little too quiet. While that’s contrasted with some typical Hollywood scenes of torture and suicide bombings, the story doesn’t portray how much of an …
Rating of
3/4
Uncomfortable truth.
kustaa - wrote on 11/03/2007
Everyone knows that when we write on the internet certain words, we're instantly tracked by a LOT of people.
That's because the world we're leaving know is probably the worst era ever.
Rendition is a political correct movie, and a not political correct at the same time.
It seems the director wants to smash at the face of the american audience, but not that much. Maybe because they don't care, maybe because they already know what he's showing.
The movie is very solid, probably not that awesome from the aesthetic view, but it does has a fantastic script.
For the non american audience, probably this is just one more movie about the times we're living today. Everytime a turn to CNN, the problem with mid east is the only the thing they talk. It seems they're obssesed with it. Now. I …
Rating of
0.5/4
"Splendition" (I wish)
Allison - wrote on 10/17/2007
Stephen Gaghan wrote Syriana. He has a high IQ, but the movie was imperfect. Two years after its release, its watered-down rip-off “The Kingdom” was made and I hoped and actually thought it was an isolated incident.
“Rendition” is the second and hopefully the last Syriana rip-off. It even has an explotion similar to the one in "The Kingdom." PLEASE stop this garbage now.
I was expecting a sweet, little, action movie where Jake holds Reese in his arms and says “Don’t worry baby, I know the bad guys are trying to get us, but it’ll all be okay.”
Reese was both the best and worst thing about this movie. She had an emotional scene with Meryl Streep and actually got to full-out scream at her. But it wasn’t enough. She needed to take off her shoes and throw them …
