'Rendition' analyzes injustice

Media Credit: Courtesy of NEW LINE CINEMA WAR ON TERROR - In "Rendition," the CIA tracks down an Egyptian-American engineer who they believe has connections with the leader of a terrorist organization. The film alternates between the Middle East and Washington, D.C., connecting the lives of the characters involved.

"Rendition," a brooding and somber film, effectively portrays the delicate balance between emphasizing national security and preserving civil liberties. Conforming to the new breed of political thrillers like "Syriana," it uses innovative plot development and gritty realism to impart political commentary.

The film begins when a stunningly realistic suicide bombing obliterates a crowded Middle Eastern market. The main target of the assassination attempt is a high-ranking Middle Eastern government official named Abasi Fawal (Igal Naor), who manages to narrowly escape due to unforeseen circumstances, revealed only at the conclusion of the movie.

In the hours following the attack, the CIA acquires intelligence suggesting that an Egyptian-American engineer, Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) has had phone conversations with the leader of the terrorist organization responsible for the attacks. The information passes up the ladder to a top CIA official, Corrine Whitman, played brilliantly by Meryl Streep. Whitman then OKs an executive rendition, which authorizes the detainment of U.S. citizens in secret, overseas prisons for the purpose of obtaining information on possible terrorist networks and suspects.

The call for a rendition, which does not occur until 20 minutes into the film, is the cohesive element that allows the story to alternate between different characters and countries. It weaves the lives of Anwar's wife, Isabella (Reese Witherspoon); Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhaal), the CIA operative monitoring the torture-interrogation; Fawal; and his daughter Fatima, who has unknowingly become involved with a young man who is secretly hunting her father.

The cinematic alternation between the intensity of the Middle East and the perceived serenity of our nation's capital creates a tangible and symbolic juxtaposition between the welfare of El-Ibrahimi and the protection of our nation's most precious institutions. There are ample torture scenes that try to emphasize that point, but these segments do not have the lasting value as two more subtle scenes.

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