The Skinny:
After the United States suspects him of being a terrorist, Reece Witherspoon’s husband is held against his will - and without her knowledge - in a secret CIA detention center.

The Good:
The way the US treats suspected terrorists is certainly a relevant topic, so the writers had a wide open window of opportunity to make a movie that is both politically controversial and emotionally stimulating at the same time.

The Bad:
It doesn’t do either one of those things. And I’m really bummed about that, because I was looking forward to this movie quite a bit. I can’t say I was exactly bored, as the handling of the prisoner and the events surrounding his alleged capture are fairly interesting. But I think the core problem here is that the most interesting stuff was either left out or cut out of the film.

I can’t articulate this point without spoilers, but suffice to say there are some obstacles for Witherspoon’s husband towards the end of the film that seem to promise some heart-pounding excitement, a possible chase sequence, and all sorts of logistical problems for him to overcome. Instead, that sequence is just skipped, and the end result of his journey presented, leaving me with some major believability issues. As a result, I felt a bit cheated.

Also, a medical professional needs to check out Jake Gyllenhaal’s face. Either he has been paralyzed from the neck up, or he’s invented some sort of acting method that is supposed to make it look like Keanu Reeves has talent.

The Ugly:
The movie pulls this shiesty time-twisting move where I literally had to press pause and go “What, did they just totally jack with the timeline for no reason? Or did I get sucked into a worm hole and we’re watching Vantage Point again?” The maneuver is really uncalled for and totally pulled Aim and I out of the experience.

The Bottom Line:
One definition of rendition is:

An explanation of something that is not immediately obvious.

I’ll tell you what was not immediately obvious when I started this movie: that it was gonna stink.

Score:

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