Rendition (film)
Rendition is a 2007 American political thriller film directed by Gavin Hood, and starring Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Meryl Streep, Peter Sarsgaard, Alan Arkin and Omar Metwally. It centers on the controversial CIA practice of extraordinary rendition and is based on the true story of Khalid El-Masri, who was mistaken for Khalid al-Masri.
Rendition
Kelley Sane
Steve Golin
David Kanter
Keith Redmon
Michael Sugar
Marcus Viscidi
Megan Gill
Paul Hepker
Mark Kilian
- September 7, 2007 (TIFF)
- October 19, 2007 (United States)
122 minutes
United States
English
$27.5 million[1]
$27 million[2]
Reception[edit]
Reviews for Rendition were mixed. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports a 47% approval rating from critics, based on 152 reviews, with the consensus noting "The impressive cast cannot rescue Rendition, which explores complex issues in woefully simplified terms." On Metacritic, the film averaged a score of 55 based on 34 reviews.[3] Roger Ebert awarded the film four stars out of four, saying, "Rendition is valuable and rare. As I wrote from Toronto: 'It is a movie about the theory and practice of two things: torture and personal responsibility. And it is wise about what is right, and what is wrong.'"[4] In contrast, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone applauded the cast, but noted that the film was a "bust as a persuasive drama".[5] Travers declared the film the year's Worst Anti-War Film on his list of the Worst Movies of 2007.[6]