The film: On its release, Rendition met with mixed reactions. Some critics seemed to think it was lacklustre and telegraphed, others said it was an outstanding story that needed to be told.

This reviewer puts it in the latter category, for it's a plausible film about a man who is racially profiled, hauled off to jail and tortured after a terrorist act that he denies being involved in.

It's a rare thing: a gutsy Hollywood movie without any easy answers, made all the more chilling by the continued denials of torture by the US government and a lack of interest from the mainstream press.

The movie begins in a variety of locations and situations - a la Traffic and Babel - to set the mood and show how interconnected various events are. In this case a pregnant woman named Isabella (Reese Witherspoon; right) in the Chicago suburbs is patiently waiting for her husband, Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally), to come home from a meeting in South Africa. When he doesn't, Isabella experiences slight worry, followed by panic, confusion and outrage as the hours turn into days and then weeks.

El-Ibarhimi, unbeknown to Isabella, has been taken off his plane on orders from the CIA, for what's alleged to be his role in a terrorist bombing in a Middle Eastern town that kills a new CIA agent and is witnessed by a smart but inexperienced new hireling named Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhaal).

While Freeman becomes increasingly disenchanted with the gruesome punishments meted out by torturer Abasi Fawai (Igal Naor), an intelligent man who has seen too much, Isabella learns via credit card transactions that her husband was actually on a plane, which eventually leads her to Washington DC, where she attempts to question a chillingly callous intelligence chief (Meryl Streep).

There are twists aplenty, including one that involves Abasi's daughter, a young college student who is involved with a radical classmate.

Unfortunately, local distributors of the DVD have neglected to provide English subtitles (Chinese are included) of the Arabic spoken in certain sections of the film, which means the visuals become that much more important.

That flaw aside, the film is an eye opener, with a sombre ending that shows the white picket fence life won't ever be the same.

The extras: They're as good as they get for a DVD, with a documentary that details real-life incidents that the film is based on. One also gains a terrific appreciation for South African director Gavin Hood's (Tsotsi) passion and attention to detail while shooting much of the film in Morocco in a documentary and commentary during deleted scenes. An alternative ending is also intriguing.

The verdict: Hollywood meets controversy in a realistic film whose story, unfortunately, is really taking place somewhere today.