048 – Rendition

With the return of Big Little Lies to our television screens, we’re taking a look at a film starring one of the Monterey Five’s key players and her newly arrived nemesis. No, that outdoor coffee shop wasn’t the first time someone demanded answers between Reese Witherspoon and Meryl Streep – they first squared off in 2007′s Rendition. All together now: “JUST TELL ME HE’S OKAY!!” Rendition was one of the many, many prestige titles that tried to unpack the War on Terror to underwhelming results with Oscar. But this film also had some of the highest expectations of them all due to the star wattage of Streep and newly minted tabloid staple couple Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal, plus recent Foreign Language-winning director Gavin Hood at the helm. Ultimately, this film was too dull and obvious to be embraced by a critical community already impatient with these kind of very similar films, and Oscar followed suit. This episode, we discuss more Foreign Language director successes that sparked buzz for their first English-language films in the years to come, the impact of a poor TIFF reception, and the romance that wasn’t meant to be. Get ready to try to tell those 00s anti-war films apart, because we have a quiz coming! Follow Us on Twitter! @Had_Oscar_Buzz Joe: @joereid Chris: @chrisvfeil