Review: Rendition

WARNING: If you have not seen Rendition, avoid reading this blog entry and watch the movie first. While I don't spell out the ending, I do allude to some of its uniqueness which should be acquired from your viewing, not my blog.

Sunday night my wife and I watched our second movie together since our son was born eleven months ago. The first was Michael Clayton at the theater. Sunday was a rental called Rendition.

Rendition has an odd story structure. The primary story is about an Egyptian-American who is taken hostage by the U.S. government on suspicion of terrorism. The hostage is flown to North Africa and interrogated by the head of defense (Ministry of Defense maybe?). An American, working for the CIA, is consulting the interrogation.

The second story is about a girl, who happens to be the daughter of the head of defense, and her affinity for a boy who seemly is a harmless artists. The two stories are only connected by the head of defense and North Africa.

Things get very interesting at the end. If you've not seen the movie, you might want to stop reading here. The hostage is eventually freed by the American working for the CIA. The second story line turns out to be a week ahead of the primary one. At the end of the meeting, you find out that the movie's opening explosion was actually the final chapter in the second story. Yes, it's very confusing. But I loved it.

What are you thoughts?