I had high hopes for this movie. It is afterall, Reese Witherspoon’s first flick, after winning her Oscar Award for Walk the Line. It also had a “controversial” theme, ripped right out of the newspapers, kaya na-enganyo ako panoorin. Kaya lang nung napanood ko na, feeling ko, parang nasayang lang ang pera ko at hinintay ko nalang ito lumabas sa cable tv.
Mabagal ang pacing.The story has a lot of potential pero hindi mashadong maganda ang delivery ng message. Hindi ko rin nagustuhan yung far eastern music sa background , at ang naalala ko dahil sa tugtog na yon eh ang pelikulang Troy. Hindi ako na-convince sa arte ni Jake Gyllenhaal bilang isang CIA Agent. Pa-pogi lang sya at pangdistract sa violent scenes. If there is one person who should be given some accolade, it would be that poor guy who played Reese’s Egyptian-American husband, Anwar El-Ibrahimi. Naawa ako sa kanya dahil wala naman syang kasalanan talaga. Pinaghinalaan sya, at kinidnap, dahil naisip lang ng mga tauhan ng gobyerno na terrorista sya dahil sa mga dropped phone calls sa cellphone nya na nanggaling diumano sa isang kilalang terroristang may pangalan na Rashid. Ang tawag sa ginawa kay Anwar ay Extraordinary Rendition. According to Wikipedia: “Extraordinary rendition and irregular rendition are terms used to describe the kidnapping & extrajudicial transfer of a person from one state to another, and the term Torture by proxy is used by some critics to describe extraordinary rendition by the United States, with regard to the alleged transfer of suspected terrorists to countries known to employ harsh interrogation techniques that may rise to the level of torture.”
Tinatanggi ni Condoleeza Rice , ang US Secretary of State, na may nagaganap ng Rendition. Pero , ayon sa isang June 2006 report from the Council of Europe, an estimated 100 people had been kidnapped by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on EU territory and rendered to other countries, often after having transited through secret detention centers (”black sites“) used by the CIA in cooperation with other governments.
The whole things smells fishy to me, but it wouldn’t be all that surprising if it were true, given the 9/11 attack. There’s the question of morality regarding the methods used in rendition. I am not saying I am all for it—but we also have to take note that a lot of people have become paranoid and would resort to unusual punishments and tactics, if in their minds, it would mean saving millions of innocent lives. and if it would mean they’d be safe. It’s a matter of survival and prevention.
Anyhow, back to the movie. Sa opinion ko, ang kinahinatnan ng characters ay mashadong neat at convenient. Timing naman na may kilala ang character ni Reese sa office ng isang senador. Mashado namang mabait yung character ni Jake para palayain nalang ang kanilang bilanggo at tulungan pa itong makabalik sa Amerika. He put his own neck on the line pati ang safety ng milyong katao (kung totoo ngang terrorista sya at may balak syang maghasik ng lagim) to save one man. Sa tingin ko , kung sa totoong buhay ito, at kung dito nangyari ito sa Pilipinas, eh papatayin pa rin sya even if he was able to give some information.
Mas maganda siguro kung ginawang documentary nalang ito.
I give this film 2 popcorn bits.
