http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/21/RENDITION-A-Wild-Ride-With-A-Bumpy-Ending.aspx RENDITION is an exciting suspenseful thriller, a morality play on a roller coaster that sadly leaves the tracks just before the ride is over. It centers on what is known as &ldquo;extraordinary rendition,&rdquo; a policy that began during the Clinton administration &ndash; that is, Bill Clinton &ndash; but stepped up after 9/11.&nbsp; It allows American authorities to kidnap foreign nationals suspected of terrorist activities, move them overseas to a place where it&rsquo;s torture that means never having to say you&rsquo;re sorry. The chances are you&rsquo;ve read about this in the newspaper or watched a story about it on TV; but actually witnessing it happen -- even in a movie -- is so claustrophobic, so frightening, you&rsquo;ll elbow the people in the seats next to you searching for more room to breathe. Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) is a highly-regarded, Egyptian-born, American-educated biochemist.&nbsp; He is married to the all-American girl, his college sweetheart, Isabella.&nbsp; They have a young boy and she is nine-months pregnant with their second.&nbsp; Returning from a conference in South Africa where he was a featured speaker, Anwar changes planes in, ironically, the nation&rsquo;s capital.&nbsp; Suddenly, he&rsquo;s whisked off to the side, a sack is placed over his head and he&rsquo;s taken to a CIA location.&nbsp; His bags are removed from the luggage and his name from the computer; he has in effect disappeared. Ultimately, on the authority of the head of the CIA&rsquo;s counter-terrorism unit, Corrinne Whitman (Meryl Streep), he&rsquo;s sent to a country in North Africa, where he is brutally interrogated by Abasi Fawal (Igal Naor). There had just been a suicide bomb plot there.&nbsp; Fawal was the target.&nbsp; And the CIA traced a call from the cell of the terrorist who claimed credit for the bomb to Anwar&rsquo;s phone.&nbsp; Fawal wants answers. en-US Critics Rant info@criticsrant.com Subtext Version 1.9.4.0 http://www.criticsrant.com/images/default_gravatar_bullhorn.png http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/21/RENDITION-A-Wild-Ride-With-A-Bumpy-Ending.aspx 77 60 http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/21/RENDITION-A-Wild-Ride-With-A-Bumpy-Ending.aspx#1901 Oh my! Jake Gyllenhaal has been working out! <br /><br />Omar Metwally as Anwar El-Ibrahimi does steal the film-- outstanding performance! octoberelise http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/21/RENDITION-A-Wild-Ride-With-A-Bumpy-Ending.aspx#1901 Fri, 26 Oct 2007 19:48:36 GMT http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/21/RENDITION-A-Wild-Ride-With-A-Bumpy-Ending.aspx#2002 I'd watch anything with Meryl Streep. I hope this one is gooooood... catwritescc http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/21/RENDITION-A-Wild-Ride-With-A-Bumpy-Ending.aspx#2002 Sat, 03 Nov 2007 11:33:05 GMT http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/21/RENDITION-A-Wild-Ride-With-A-Bumpy-Ending.aspx#2075 looks pretty good:) tinkluvspan http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/10/21/RENDITION-A-Wild-Ride-With-A-Bumpy-Ending.aspx#2075 Tue, 06 Nov 2007 14:05:42 GMT