Rendition (2007)

After a terrorist bombing kills an American envoy in a foreign country, an investigation leads to an Egyptian who has been living in the United States for years and who is married to an ... See full summary »

Director:

Gavin Hood

Writer:

Kelley Sane

Stars:

Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jake Gyllenhaal	...	Douglas Freeman
Reese Witherspoon	...	Isabella Fields El-Ibrahimi
Meryl Streep	...	Corrine Whitman
Alan Arkin	...	Senator Hawkins
Peter Sarsgaard	...	Alan Smith
Omar Metwally	...	Anwar El-Ibrahimi
Igal Naor	...	Abasi Fawal
Hadar Ratzon Rotem	...	Safiya (as Hadar Ratzon)
J.K. Simmons	...	Lee Mayer
Simon Abkarian	...	Said Abdel Aziz
Moa Khouas	...	Khalid El-Emin
Zineb Oukach	...	Fatima Fawal
Aramis Knight	...	Jeremy El-Ibrahimi
Rosie Malek-Yonan	...	Nuru El-Ibrahimi
Laila Mrabti	...	Lina Fawal

Storyline

After a terrorist bombing kills an American envoy in a foreign country, an investigation leads to an Egyptian who has been living in the United States for years and who is married to an American. He is apprehended when he's on his way home. The U.S. sends him to the country where the incident occurs for interrogation, which includes torture. An American C.I.A. operative observes the interrogation and is at odds whether to keep it going or to stop it. In the meantime, the man's wife raises hell to find him, but the person behind this refuses to help or give her any information.

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Plot Keywords:

bare chested male bondage | cape town south africa | watching television | splatterpunk | american | 

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Taglines:

You don't get to torture without rendition.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for torture/violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [Germany]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic

Release Date:

19 October 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Détention secrète

Filming Locations:

Morocco

Box Office

Budget:

$27,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,060,012, 21 October 2007, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$9,736,045, 15 November 2007

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$27,038,732

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anonymous Content, Level 1 Entertainment, MID Foundation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie never confirms whether the renditioned individual is innocent, or wrongly accused, or a terrorist, or correctly discovered as one. One theory the filmmakers suggested is that he was not a terrorist, but was set up by a terrorist cell who put his information on a cell phone that they knew would be discovered by the C.I.A. and lead them to the wrong guy while they got away scott-free.

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Goofs

Muslims never ever saying Amen after "May the peace and blessings and glory of God, the Almighty, be upon you".

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Quotes

Douglas Freeman: [Sending him home] Don't talk to anyone.

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Connections

Featured in HBO First Look: Two Sides of a Story: The Making of 'Rendition' (2007)

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Soundtracks

N'Dare
Written and Performed by Alpha Yaya Diallo
Courtesy of Jericho Beach Music

User Reviews

This could ACTUALLY have happened to me!!!

I'm Egyptian. I have a green card. I have been living in the US since 1991. I have a very common Arabic name. I'm married (non-American but non-Egyptian, non-Arab wife). I have children who are born in the US. I have a PhD in Cell Biology from the US and I travel for conferences. I make 6 figure income and I own a home in the Washington, DC area. I pay my taxes and outside 1 or 2 parking tickets I have no blemish on my record since I came to this country in 1991. I look more Egyptian than the Ibrahimi character but my spoken English is as good as his.

A couple of months ago I was returning from a conference/company business in Spain through Munich Germany to Washington, DC (Home). I was picked up in Munich airport by a German officer as soon as I got off the Madrid plane. He was waiting for me. He was about to start interrogating me until I simply told him "I have no business in Germany, I'm just passing through". He had let me go with the utmost disappointment. That was nothing compared to what happened at Washington, Dulles airport (Which was not nearly as bad as what happened to Ibrahimi in the movie). The customs officer asked me a couple of questions about the length and purpose of my trip. He then wrote a letter C on my custom declaration form and let me go. After I picked up my checked bag I was stopped at the last exit point (Some Homeland Security crap). I sat there for 3 hours along with many different people of many different nationalities. I was not told the reason for my detainment. I was not allowed to use my phone or ANY other phone. I was feisty at first asking to be told of the reason or let me go but decided to suck it up and just wait and see. I asked if I can call my wife to tell her that I'm going to be late but was told no. When I tried to use my phone and as soon as my wife said "hello", an officer yanked the phone out of hand and threatened me to confiscate it. When I asked about needing to call home because my family is waiting, they said "Three hours is nothing, we will make contact after 5 hours". When I asked to use the bathroom, an officer accompanied me there. It toilet was funny; I guess it was a prison style toilet that is all metal with no toilet seat. Finally, they called my name and gave me my passport/green card and said you can go. I asked what the problem was, they said "nothing"!! I know it was only 3 hours but I was dead tired and wanted to go home to see my wife and kids.

As for the movie, it was very well made. Unlike most movies that involve Arabs and use non-Arab actors who just speak gibberish, this movie the Arabic was 100% correct. I assume the country is Morocco (North Africa).