Tortured consciences
The subject of American-approved political torture couldn't be more timely in Gavin Hood's "Rendition."
Yet, "Rendition" settles for effective when it could have been astonishing. It becomes merely thought-provoking when it could have inspired a call to action.
The South Africa-born Hood, who won an Oscar for his movie "Tsotsi," directs this drama with reserved punch and style, perhaps thinking the volatile subject would be sufficient to create a crackling, pertinent drama.
On the surface, "Rendition" tells the story of an American woman's search for her Egypt-born husband, kidnapped in Chicago and whisked off to a foreign country to be tortured for information he might not have.
But the real story in "Rendition" concerns two public servants -- a CIA analyst and a U.S. senator's aide -- who become tested for their ethics and personal convictions.
In a single line of dialogue, an official informs us that the Clinton administration introduced "extraordinary rendition," a process in which suspected terrorists can be transported to other countries that do not have laws against torture.
Handsome Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) experiences this the moment he arrives in Chicago from an African business trip. Assailants, presumably American, abduct him and take him to an unnamed North African country where a feared local cop named Abasi Fawal (Igal Naor) applies the usual torture techniques (electrodes, beatings, isolation) to find out why El-Ibrahimi received calls from a terrorist cell.
The blast from a suicide bomber at a market kills the area's CIA operative. It falls to inexperienced analyst Douglas Freeman (a lackluster Jake Gyllenhaal) to support Fawal and witness his interrogation.
Upset by what he sees, Freeman (whose name connotes his future actions) uses humor to deal with the dire situation.
"It's my first torture," he quips to Fawal.
Back in Chicago, the victim's very pregnant wife Isabella (a constantly emoting Reese Witherspoon) gets a runaround from authorities, who say that El-Ibrahimi never arrived in Chicago.
She seeks out an old college flame, Alan Smith (reliable character actor Peter Sarsgaard), who works for powerful Sen. Hawkins (Alan Arkin). Through his contacts, Smith discovers the abduction has been authorized by CIA boss Corrinne Whitman (Meryl Streep, whipping up an all-too-nefarious Southern drawl).
As Isabella launches a campaign to find her husband, interior conflicts assault Smith and Freeman, each being forced to participate in actions they don't believe are right.
"Rendition" piles on one more narrative layer. Fawal has been searching for his daughter, who has run off with a fundamentalist lover. This extra story provides "Rendition" with a nifty plot twist, one of the best I've seen in recent years.
If only Hood's direction had taken up some of the narrative slack and inspired his actors to create something more than generic characters.
"Rendition"
Three stars out of four
Opens today
Starring
Reese Witherspoon as Isabella El-Ibrahimi
Jake Gyllenhaal as Douglas Freeman
Meryl Streep as Corrinne Whitman
Alan Arkin as Sen. Hawkins
Peter Sarsgaard as Alan Smith
Written by Kelley Sane. Produced by Steve Golin and Marcus Viscidi. Directed by Gavin Hood. A New Line Cinema release. Rated R (language, violence). Running time: 122 minutes.