Rendition (2007)
Directed by Gavin Hood
When an Egyptian terrorism suspect "disappears" on a flight from Africa to Washington DC, his American wife and a CIA analyst find themselves caught up in a struggle to secure his release from a secret detention facility somewhere outside the US.
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What critics compared Rendition to
There's the guy who asks for a light on the curb outside (Scoot McNairy, "Argo"), the guy who offers Visine in the airport bathroom (Anson Mount, AMC's 'Hell on Wheels'), the guy who's always in the way (Nate Parker, "Arbitrage"), the little girl who drops her Paddington Bear before boarding (Quinn McColgan, HBO's 'Mildred Pierce'), the Muslim (Omar Metwally, "Rendition"), the woman who insists on switching her seat (Julianne Moore), the aggressive guy who claims to be NYPD (Corey Stoll, "Midnight in Paris") and the uncooperative Black kid (Corey Hawkins, "Iron Man 3").
Having cut his teeth on the socio-political themes of Tsotsi and Rendition , Gavin Hood knows that the real interest here lies not in the futuristic sci-fi spectacle (which is handled efficiently) but in the more contemporary issues of virtual violence, and jaw-jaw versus war-war.
That tale has now been brought to the big screen by writer/director Gavin Hood ("X-Men Origins: Wolverine," "Rendition") who has cast Asa Butterfield (who played the title character in "Hugo") as his protagonist.
While it fails to impart the same level of emotional impact as its source novel, director Gavin Hood (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Rendition) has a no-nonsense approach that refuses to condescend to a young audience by whitewashing matters of war, politics, or the training of young children to become soldiers.
Born and bred in South Africa, Hood won but did not earn an Oscar for the social drama Tsotsi, then directed the somnolent political film Rendition and the non-whelming X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
He's flirted with big studio blockbusters ("The Day After Tomorrow" and the dud "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time"), measured character studies ("Brokeback Mountain," "Zodiac") and heavy, topical wartime dramas ("Jarhead," "Rendition," "Brothers").