Sean Burns on "Rendition,"which I refuse to see:
Obviously this is an important subject, and indeed I found myself trapped in an infuriating post-screening conversation with a colleague who kept insisting this is a motion picture every American needs to see. I argued that the topic demands discussion, but the movie itself is actually really boring and kind of shitty. He claimed such things don’t matter—so I guess you all have your marching orders... Besides the profound lack of drama and generally arrogant air of Oscar-grubbing self-righteousness, what Rendition suffers from most is an infuriating lack of specificity. Calling these folks one-dimensional would be extremely generous, as there are barely a handful of personality traits to go around in this picture. These characters have been given vague platforms instead of human behavior, and they wander stiffly through the frame, reciting talking-points memos in lieu of actual dialogue. Kelley Shane’s screenplay may as well have been written on index cards. Nothing here feels real, and for an allegedly muckracking expose, the film packs surprisingly little urgency.Let the record show: it ALWAYS matters if a movie is really boring and kind of shitty. Posted by Stephen Silver at October 18, 2007 05:14 PM
Gag. People who insist that "this is a movie everyone should see" get on my nerves. I'll agree that there are some subjects that people should generally be aware of, but if it's so damn important, isn't a Hollywood movie pretty much the last source you should be using to educate yourself on the matter?
Posted by: Emily at October 19, 2007 12:21 PM