In this post-9/11 world, a controversial government policy known as “extraordinary rendition” has become prevalent. It gives U.S. security agencies the power to seize suspicious foreign nationals and secretly ship them off overseas so that they can be held indefinitely and interrogated in places where concepts like civil liberties and the Geneva Convention don’t exist. The movie called “Rendition” uses the star power of Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal and Meryl Streep to shed light on a subject worth an examination in the art form of fictional film and — more especially — in the news media.
Unfortunately, this purposeful, socially conscious thriller is rendered with little dramatic nuance and even less political intricacy. It therefore thwarts its own efforts to make the case against torture and the paranoia that justifies its use. The earnest effort bydirector Gavin Hood (behind the Oscar winner “Tsotsi”) has several undeniably compelling scenes that depict the systemized cruelty (and, according to this, ultimate futility) of the harsh methods used. But the impressive lineup of Hollywood actors is mostly wasted in oversimplified roles in the Kelley Sane screenplay.
