Movie Review - Rendition

I think this is available on dvd by now, but I haven't seen that version yet, so this is my review based on seeing it at the theater.

A woman is waiting for her Egyptian-born husband to come home from his business trip in South Africa. While he is there, a bomb goes off in the middle of town. He is mistakenly identified as the one who caused it. When his plane lands in Washington D.C., he is walking thru the terminal and is taken aside by officers who tell him that he has an urgent call and then once behind closed doors, he is grabbed, a sack is thrown over his head and then he is taken to a remote location outside the U.S. where he is stripped and tortured (or should I say "interrogated" because as we are told in the movie, the United States does not torture) until he gives up names of who he is working for and with. He is put through a LOT of torture so he is either innocent or has a really high threshold for pain. We then cut back to South Africa where a teen boy and teen girl are forbidden to be together and we see them sneaking around so they can be. You're not quite sure what any of this has to do with the supposed mistaken identity until you see that the girl's father is the one heading up the torture. A United States CIA representative is there to witness (not sure why, since he isn't there to make sure the man is treated humanely) all of this and slowly starts to believe that they are torturing an innocent man. In the meantime, the man's wife (with a baby on the way) and her two young sons are at the airport waiting for his plane to come in but as they watch everyone come thru the terminal (including the flight attendants and the pilot), they never see him. She goes home and starts making phone calls and is told that her husband was never on the flight. But a credit card statement shows he made an in-flight call, which proves he was on the plane, so she decides to enlist an old friend's help (who works for a senator) to figure out what happened to her husband and prove his innocence. But is he really innocent?

This movie had some nice twists to it. Honestly, I don't think any other actress other than Reese Witherspoon could have pulled it off where you're right there with her emotionally. Very interesting story where you're not quite sure who to root for throughout, but that makes the movie even better. Quite a few subtitles.

Tends to stick with you, so repeated viewings probably not necessary, but it was VERY good.

Vixy :]